This Lebanese Startup Just Championed the Seedstars Competition

Lebanese startup Vision in Motion, a B2B software solution that helps retailers understand their customers using security cameras and computer vision, has just won the Seedstars Beirut competition, moving on to participate in the Seedstars World finals taking place next year in Switzerland, battling entrepreneurs from emerging economies as they compete for up to $1 million in equity investment.

The competition is organised by Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, which is currently exploring the MENA ecosystems throughout startup competitions. Touching upon Beirut, the competition was held in partnership with Lebanese accelerator Speed BDD, at Beirut-based co-working space Antwork, where 10 startups were invited to pitch their ideas in front of the local jury panel. As a part of the prize, Vision in Motion will be participating at the Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in April 2018, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 80 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. 

Jaleesa, a tech-driven social impact business that offers busy families a trusted and easy way to find excellent child care in Beirut, came second and Living Book, a production and a publishing platform where anyone can create publish and sell personalised interactive and printed books for kids, grabbed the last spot in the top 3.

The 10 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury, including Lara Ammar (Touch), Nicolas Rouhana (IM Capital), Henri Asseily (Leap Ventures), Elie Bassil (Mirum), Riyad Abou Jaoudeh (Middle East Venture Partners) and Meghan Warner (Seedstars). While Nadim Khater, Chief Commercial Officer at Touch and Tarek Dajani, CEO at Mirum, both inspired the audience with their keynote speeches.

As the Seedstars's Beirut, GCC, and Dubai editions concluded in September, the organisation is taking to Alexandria on September 30th, followed by Algiers on October 6th, Casablanca on October 20th, and Kuwait on November 1st. 

Main photo: Courtesy of Speed BDD.

For more information about the Seedstars competition, click here.