Good News from the Middle East

20 Syrian Startups Join Jusoor’s 14-day Boot Camp this February

Leila Amer

In mid-December 2015, Jusoor launched its Second Entrepreneurship Program Competition, welcoming passionate young Syrian entrepreneurs to participate in Startup and Social Tracks. Since then, Jusoor has received over 160 applications from teams in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Germany.

The competition is in its second phase and 20 Syrian startup teams will be joining Jusoor’s 14-day boot camp between February 24th to March 6th 2016 in Beirut, Lebanon. The majority of the startups who applied to this year’s competition are in the fields of Technology, Nonprofit and Education; healthcare and media startups also applied as well. Moreover, this year’s round of applications witnessed a remarkable increase of 17% in female applicants, where 30% of the applicants are female.

Jusoor, a non-governmental organization of Syrian expatriates, has been supporting the country’s development and helping Syrian youth realize their potential since 2011.  With a network of over 100,000 community members from over 50 countries, Jusoor wholeheartedly ensures that throughout its programs, Syrian youth will have access to profoundly better opportunities. Its Entrepreneurship Program, which is sponsored by Boeing and the Asfari Foundation, aims to create a strong collaborative community for Syrian entrepreneurs to learn from successful businesses, peers and role models.

“We want to highlight the challenges for start-ups and help guide entrepreneurs through their business development with mentorships, boot camp program and funding.” (Jusoorsyria.com)

The boot camp is run by Karim Samakie, a former Investment Manager of the leading startup accelerator in the MENA region, Oasis500. On the last day of the boot camp, Jusoor will be hosting an “Entrepreneurship Gathering”, where trending topics in the startup industry will be discussed and advice will be shared by several successful Syrian entrepreneurs.

Boot camp participants will be given the opportunity to pitch their startups to a panel of judges, which consists of prominent Arab entrepreneurs and professionals from the industry; Habib Haddad (Founding CEO of Wamda), Omar Christidis (Founder and CEO of ArabNet), Rama Chakaki (co-founder and CEO of Baraka Ventures), Ronaldo Mouchawar (Co-Founder and CEO of Souq.com) and Hala Fadel (Angel Investor and Partner at Leap Ventures). The judges will then select, four winners, two from each of the Startup Track and Social Track, who will receive financial rewards and become eligible to join MIT Arab Startup Competition training phase in 2016.

The 20 Syrian startup teams who were short-listed and qualified to join the boot camp are as follows:

Stay tuned to see which teams will be winning Jusoor’s Second Entrepreneurship Program Competition!

For more information: Visit Jusoor’s official website to learn more about its Entrepreneurship Program and the wide range of programs and initiatives they run.

Jusoor’s Entrepreneurship Program is sponsored by Boeing and Asfari Foundation. In addition, the boot camp is in partnership with: Beirut Digital District, Startup Next, MIT Enterprise Forum, Haykal Media and  ArabNet, the hub for Arab digital professionals and entrepreneurs.