Proximie and FOO selected to join Endeavor at Cairo ISP

At Endeavor’s 86th International Selection Panel (ISP) held in Cairo, Egypt, during March 13-15, 2019, two high-impact Lebanese entrepreneurs were selected to join the global Endeavor network. Proximie, the innovative medical telehealth platform, and FOO, a growing B2B Fintech provider, were among the 12 new companies chosen in Cairo to join Endeavor’s network and receive local and international support.

“We are very proud to be welcoming FOO and Proximie to the Endeavor network. These two companies are advancing both the fintech and medical health industries in the region,” said Christina Chehade, Managing Director of Endeavor Lebanon. “The impact of innovative scaleups is significantly higher than that of traditional SMEs, with regards to creating job opportunities and generating revenues, which ultimately contributes to economic development.”

Before becoming Endeavor Entrepreneurs, Proximie’s Co-founder and CEO Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram, and FOO’s Co-founder and Managing Partner Elie Nasr, underwent a rigorous multi-step selection process. Once they were selected in Beirut at the Local Selection Panel, they joined the three-day ISP in Cairo where they were interviewed by industry professionals who assessed their potential impact on the local and global scale. A unanimous vote determined their Endeavor-readiness. The entrepreneurs received constructive feedback from experts, as well as networking and investment opportunities.

“With a ripe Fintech market in the Middle East, we are aiming to put Lebanon on the global scene of financial product innovation. By leveraging our talented pool of employees, key partnership with Zain Group and an agile implementation model, we managed to facilitate $900M in total transaction volume to date and placed FOO as a leading B2B Fintech provider in the region,” said Elie Nasr, Co-founder and CEO of FOO. “The Endeavor journey was dynamic and eye-opening on several fronts, I got the chance to meet with incredible international entrepreneurs and mentors. I am looking forward to exploring the Endeavor network further and contribute to their impact on the Lebanese economy,” he added.

“Proximie leverages technology and augmented reality to enhance global patient care by enabling surgeons to collaborate and transfer expertise in a live surgery environment. The Endeavor process was a great learning experience as we got exposed to a variety of exceptional mentors from different backgrounds and industries who all had relevant feedback for us. We are thrilled to partner up with Endeavor’s network and expand our reach through its international presence,” said Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram, Co-founder and CEO of Proximie.

Endeavor Lebanon continues to look for ambitious, high-impact entrepreneurs with leadership potential to grow, create jobs and accelerate the country’s economic growth.

An overview of the two Lebanese companies chosen:

Entrepreneur: Elie Nasr
Company: FOO
Industry: Fintech
Mission: To become the go-to FinTech provider of digital wallets and payment technologies in MENA.
Description: 86% of adults in the Middle East are categorized as unbanked, yet, the region enjoys a 65% penetration rate. The founders of FOO identified an opportunity to innovate in the FinTech market. FOO is a B2B FinTech provider, enabling banks and startups to process their end customers’ peer-to-peer payments, overseas remittance payments, bill payments and loan applications. FOO also provides an online digital banking platform for any financial institution seeking digitization.

Entrepreneur: Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram
Company: Proximie
Industry: Digital Health
Mission: To create a global surgical community where practitioners can crowdsource knowledge to serve patients better.
Description: Proximie is a telehealth platform for medical professionals, hospitals, universities, and surgical associations to share information through publications and live streams of surgeries. The medical associations and medical schools then purchase the platform through a SaaS, per-user, subscription model for surgical guidance, continued learning, sharing of best practices, and enhancing the surgical training experience for students and doctors alike. Proximie also sells its license to medical device companies that wish to train their customers on how to use the devices. Rather than conducting on-site training, the hospitals purchase the platform as part of the medical device training package to virtually train the end-user on using the device.

Endeavor Entrepreneurs have a significant track record of impact, creating 1.5 million jobs, generating more than USD15 billion in revenues in 2018, and have helped build sustainable growth models in their home countries.