LebNet’s flagship program Ignite will kick off officially on Oct 14, 2019 and welcomes four new Lebanese startups from Lebanon’s startup accelerator Speed, to be part of its seventh cohort. 

This session will be a 5-week Silicon Valley bootcamp  powered by Draper University in San Mateo, California. These five weeks in the Bay Area will cover a wide range of topics: building a company, Go-To-Market, selling,  learning to decipher term sheets, leveraging mentors and advisors, pitching and much more.

“Although some of the areas covered in this program are familiar topics available in many programs around the world, there is no substitute to being directly exposed to the Silicon Valley ecosystem of trainers, mentors, and investors,” said George Akiki, LebNet CEO. “LebNet is building on learnings accumulated during our previous 6 cohorts and are proud to bring this new and improved version to light in partnership with Speed & Draper University.”

The Draper portion of the Ignite program is as follows:

• Week 1: How to build a 10-year company
• Week 2: Marketing, Sales and GTM (Go-To-Market) strategy
• Week 3: Survival week with Tim Draper. Survival training out in nature accompanied by navy seals. Team building activities and access to Tim.
• Week 4: Legal, term sheets, immigration help, etc.
• Week 5: Demo day and preparation

In addition, LebNet will offers a stack of services consisting of the following layers:

Getting-to-know-you Breakfast:
A power session held with a LebNet member to discuss the startup’s future plans and an introduction to the region. 

Walk with a Coach:
A long walk along one of California’s scenic trails with an executive level member to provide coaching and guidance. 

Brainstorming Dinner:
Startups will be matched over a dinner table with 4-5 LebNet members who will tackle and debate with them Value Propositions, Go-To-Market Strategies,  and provide collective and individual feedback.

Ad-hoc meetings:
These ad-hoc meetings with potential LebNet members will be designed to address a specific need of a startup that some members might be able to help with. 

Additional Company Visits:

When appropriate, startups will visit LebNet members’ company offices. 

“LebNet Ignite has been instrumental in helping our startups see the bigger picture and think global. The program fast-tracked the entrepreneurs into their next major milestone, whether it was a pivot, a fundraising event, or even a complete shutdown. The Silicon Valley experience is unique and LebNet’s mentors and their dedication made it extremely valuable,” said Sami Abou Saab, CEO of Speed. “We have seen in many cases the relationships that were built during the immersion program evolve and keep going over the years, accompanying the startups in their journey. This is the first time we  exceptionally send 4 founders and 4 startups and it is only a clear sign of how Speed evolved part of this experience to deliver best in class startups and how LebNet Ignite influenced that evolution.”

Announcing the 4 shortlisted startups

Four startups from Speed’s 6th batch will fly to California to benefit from the 5-week program.   

Lemonade Fashion: A platform that allows fashion forward individuals to shop a wide variety of premium designer collections under one platform, customize them and have them made-to-measure to fit them perfectly, all from the comfort of their homes and at very attractive pricing.

Oreyeon: A startup building solutions for the aviation industry, enabling operations and safety optimization.

Scriptofilm: An interactive platform that links scriptwriters and filmmakers to investors, producers and distributors.

Xilia: A platform connecting creative and digital agencies and freelancers to their clients in order to facilitate communication, accelerate the working process, and provide the management with advanced business intelligence tools.

About Draper University 

Draper University is the leading program in Silicon Valley for building founders. Their innovative, immersive Residential Programs in Entrepreneurship offer: essential startup skills, exposure to industry experts, a network of like-minded entrepreneurs, & mentorship from experienced venture capitalists (VCs).

Over 300 companies have graduated from Draper University and have raised more than $250 million. Draper University has also started their own fund where they put in 50 to 100K tickets that they invest in startups that go through their program.

About Speed

Speed is a tech accelerator based out of the Beirut Digital District that empowers software startups to succeed and scale globally through a 3-month mentorship-driven program, $30,000 in funding, and a lifelong network of mentors and partners.