Endeavor Lebanon Scale Up Program 1st Cohort: 8 Rising Stars in the Lebanese Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
At Endeavor Lebanon, we understand the unique range of challenges that entrepreneurs face all around the world. We also have proven, through our on-ground work and various programs, that with the right support, network, mentoring and technical skills building – any company can rise to the challenge, dream bigger and scale faster.
This is why we launched Endeavor Lebanon Scale Up Program, our 15 week acceleration program tailored for Lebanese entrepreneurs around the globe
During the first cohort of this program, 8 founders exhibiting high potential were selected to benefit from coaching, mentorship, workshops to overcome challenges, and networking opportunities.
These were the selected companies:
1- Fabric Aid:
FabricAID is a social enterprise founded in 2017 working to establish a socially and environmentally conscious value chain for the apparel industry by optimizing collection, sorting, upcycling, and resale of second hand clothes through socially conscious and sustainable brands. The company operates in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt in 8 different cities with a team of 110 employees.
2- Feels:
Feels is an app to meet people. Most dating apps have become somewhat carbon copies of each other and the swiping model has become almost universal, yet 80% of Gen-Z answers “no” to the question “are you satisfied with existing dating apps?”. This is why Feels aims to create natural, healthy and pressure free connections through leveraging content creation and shared experiences. The company currently operates in France and employs a team of 10. As of May, Feels had 150K monthly active users, and it has reached 20% of the dating apps market share on IOS in France.
3- Oreyeon:
Oreyeon has developed a modern, low-impact to operations and cost-effective approach to building data-driven and automated awareness of an airfield’s condition, thus modernizing a previously primitive method for risk aversion and maintenance of runways. The company currently operates in airports in the US and Europe and has a partnership with the US Military. The team is currently composed of 35-40 employees.
4- Ostaz:
Ostaz is an online platform that offers personalized learning journeys to students around the world. The company is looking to be the intermediary between students with learning difficulties and people seeking tutoring jobs. The main activities of the company are in the UAE and Lebanon. The company has completed more than 90K hours of tutoring sessions for more than 60K students and with a team of 15 full time employees.
5- Podeo:
Podeo is a podcasting platform that aims to enable creators, listeners and advertisers through proprietary tech products. Podeo aims to offer an all encompassing product ranging from production studios and applications, to distribution channels, as well as dashboards for insights and performance related analytics. The company is currently focused on the MENA market and has reached 12M listens on their platform for Q2 2022, Podeo currently employs 30 people.
6- Salma Loves Beauty:
Salma Loves beauty (SLB) is a clean beauty company and leverages the power of communities, innovative content and sustainable supply chain to democratize and make premium cosmetic products affordable for everyone. The company sells its products in Lebanon and the UAE, through both B2B and D2C channels. The SLB team is composed of 8 employees.
7- Shelvz:
Shelvz is a cloud-based SaaS Field Force Management solution aimed at automating the data collection process of field reps with the goal of providing valuable real-time visibility & analytics to the consumer packaged goods industry.The company operates in the MENA region; it serves more than 60 clients, 5k subscribers and the majority of its revenues is generated in KSA. Shelvz has 17 employees between Lebanon and Cyprus.
8- Studio Fankoosh:
Studio al Fankoosh is a multi-channel network that produces great “Arabic” content that entertains, inspires and uplifts audiences in the region. You can think of them as the Buzzfeed of the Middle East, a digital first content studio that leverages technology to create great experiences and build communities. The content produced is available worldwide but targets the MENA region specifically. The company currently employs 4 full time and 15 part time employees having reached 2.4M website visits in June 2022, with 731K of them being unique visitors.