7 Lebanese Startups to Watch As Speed BDD Graduates their 5th Cycle 

Spike, a mobile assistant that helps diabetics better manage their disease, has just won Speed@BDD's seed boost of $50,000 at their fifth Demo Day in Beirut. The startup monitors the patient’s daily behavior and pops out reminders and tips on insulin, food, activity, among others whenever needed. The $50,000 equity investment (5 percent) will help Spike further grow and develop its product in the upcoming months prior to securing the next round of investment.

Speed@BDD's Demo Day V marked the completion of the Lebanese accelerator Speed@BDD’s fifth programme which began last November. Following an intensive two-week selection program, seven teams were selected to join the fifth acceleration programme, where Speed@BDD invested $30,000 in cash in each startup. The accelerator also provided the seven startups with in-kind services covering free hosting, product and business development, financial advisory, legal services, and mentorship from key experts in various industries.

The startups gained access to market expertise from the accelerator’s network of over 100 external mentors who dedicated more than 250 hours to help the entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Moreover, the startups also received a $15,000 equity-free grant through Speed@BDD’s partnership with the iSME Program by Kafalat. These seven startups pitched their businesses and presented their products to a wide audience comprising 250 officials, investors, experts, and media representatives.

1. Actachef 

Founded by Bassel Karout and Dana Nasrallah, Actachef is a website where users can order their favorite healthy meal, in a form of ingredients and a recipe, and get it delivered to their doorsteps in a box. The customer would find fresh, washed, and pre-portioned ingredients with a recipe that can be easily followed and prepared in less than 35 minutes. 

2. Cabbis 

Cabbis is a play on words since it means “press” in Lebanese slang, while it is also meant to refer to taxi “cabbies,” as in taxi drivers. Founded by Hadi Hosni, Elias El Hoayek, and Michel Wakil, Cabbis is a cloud-based service offered to traditional taxi companies on a subscription-based model. It allows for a smooth transition from their current model to an Uber-like model, and therefore, for the scaling of their business.

3. CraveHome

Founded by Ali Jachi and Aya Anani, CraveHome is a website that allows users to buy fresh and delicious homemade meals prepared by home cooks whose kitchens are certified by the platform’s food safety program.

4. DrApp

Founded by Hady Bsat, DrApp is an online platform that facilitates billable medical consultations between doctors and their own patients via chatbot technology. The DrAppBOT integrates seamlessly with currently-used messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, to respond to both patients’ and doctors’ needs.

5. Spike
   

Founded by Ziad Alame , Spike is a mobile assistant that helps diabetics better manage their diabetes. Spike monitors the patient’s daily behavior and pops out reminders and tips on insulin, food, activity, etc., whenever needed. It also stores the patient’s data to be analyzed and/or shared with doctors and caregivers.

6. Tapkik

Founded by Halid Mousa, Rok Nemet, and Haris Osmanovic, Tapkik is the first full-stack, fully-localized, and programmatic Ad exchange that connects advertisers and publishers in the Middle East. Using Big Data and Machine Learning, Tapklik’s scalable and distributed enterprise-grade demand-side platform (DSP) “Tapklik OneAd” allows advertisers and agencies to reach their audiences online through smart targeting, which yields better conversions.

7. TeensWhoCode

Founded by Nour Atrissi, TeensWhoCode enables schools across the region to easily teach computer science via an adaptive gamified e-learning platform. It allows its graduates to become employable competent software developers at just 18 years old. 

Photos: Courtesy of Speed@BDD.