The Startup Roadshow Reveals Shortlisted Startups in Beirut

The world’s first competition for Syrian entrepreneurs in the Middle East, the Startup Roadshow, has just taken off at the heart of Beirut’s innovative space, the Beirut Digital District. The Startup Roadshow is established by Jusoor and SPARK, and co-organised by Startups Without Borders, an initiative that aims to enhance the ecosystem for migrant and refugee entrepreneurs. The competition’s second editionis also incorporating 5 Startup Weekend competitions running synonymously, where entrepreneurs can gather teams, gain insight and gear up to compete.

At the end of the roadshow, two of the top startups will move on to the regional finals, where all the top startups from every location will battle it out at the final Demo Day in Amman, for cash prizes of up to $15,000, while the second and third place winners will receive $10,000 and $7,000 respectively. The winners will also get the chance to showcase their businesses on the global stage in Amsterdam, during the SPARK Ignite annual conference.

“We have been overwhelmed by the number of very interesting applications we have received and it has been an incredibly difficult process narrowing them down to select teams to participate in the Roadshow. We are excited to kick off the program in Beirut this week and have very high expectations of the innovative ideas coming from the teams,” says Grace Atkinson, Jusoor’s Executive Director.

Some of the short-listed promising startups in Beirut include Click Shipping, an online platform to automate retail operations; Smart Budget, a program that uses artificial intelligence to adjust budgets for projects; and Bazgas, a company that produces biogas units to sell to cattle farms.

Other short-listed startups include:

• Doculife; a cybersecurity startup that secures the way confidential information is shared between companies, entreprises and third-party clients.
• Lessgo; an eco-friendly long-distance transportation startup.
• Jellyfish; a user-friendly, project-based budget management solutions startup.
• Markaz Maharat Al Edara
• BeeDa
• Himmet Shabab
• Smart Kids
• Roadride
• Tulip
• LogicGrids
• Baby’s caring.com
• Smart Balancer
• MyPlan
• Major Academy
• Woodtronic
• Learning 

“This year was exceptional with the outreach campaign; we’ve reached so many partners and communities, and exceeded the expectations for participants, which means there is a high demand for these kinds of programmes. As we head to the finals, we are very excited to see the 3 winners. We will witness the birth of a new group of Syrian entrepreneurs and startups, which will have a huge impact in the region,” says Mohammad Skaik, SPARK’s Regional Business Development Manager for the MENA region.