In response to the Beirut Port explosion, the UAE-based Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) launched an initiative that will see $100,000 distributed equally among 10 select Lebanese startups.
Titled United for Beirut, the funding project aims to provide equity-free financial assistance to high-impact startups that sustained heavy losses in the blast, and that can effectively support the ongoing efforts promoting the recovery of Beirut.
In addition to the $10,000 grant, each startup selected by the initiative will receive up to $10,000 in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Activate Credits.
The startups, which were chosen with the help of MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) Pan Arab, could also benefit from a variety of tools that can help their businesses grow, including technical support, mentorship, and others.
The 10 high-potential, socially-minded, tech-driven startups that were picked collectively tackle a variety of domains and sectors that serve crucial roles in reconstructing and reviving Beirut.
The criterium that Sheraa used for selecting the startups considered the impact they suffered by the Beirut Port explosion, how they would utilize Sheraa’s donation, and the evaluation of their two-year development plans for Beirut.
The winning startups are the following:
Buildlink: A 3D concrete printing company that can design and build houses incorporating custom-designed furniture, typically in as short as a week’s time.
Mrüna: The company behind BiomWeb, a project that promotes a decentralized, tech-oriented network of nature-based wastewater treatment systems.
Moodfit: An online platform that connects professional interior designers with people who want to furnish their homes.
FabricAID: A social platform that collects and redistributes clothes to vulnerable communities at very cheap prices that range between $0.1 and $0.5 per item, while reducing fabric waste.
Sympaticus: A social enterprise that uses mobile application services to offer easier access to mental health services for women in the MENA region.
B.O.T: Short for “Bridge. Outsource. Transform.” It is Lebanon’s first impact sourcing platform, which helps combat unemployment by providing remote freelance work opportunities to people in vulnerable communities.
KwikPak Shelter: An emergency housing project that offers ready-to-deploy housing systems to vulnerable and displaced people.
Compost Baladi SAL: A social business, specializing in sustainable organic waste management, that aims to promote the recovery of usable and valuable resources from biowaste.
Basma: A medical device company that uses 3D printing to provide orthodontic and restorative treatment.
Kids Genius (The Makers Hub): A hardware development workspace that targets youth between 7 and 18, covering an array of related technology fields.
