On February 26-March 9 2018, LebNet Ignite#6 powered by Blackbox kicked off to what would become a memorable week of growth. Out of five Lebanese startups nominated by LebNet and @speedlebanon, two were handpicked by LebNet and Blackbox to head to Silicon Valley to elevate and supercharge their businesses.

Congrats to Nour Atrissi, Founder of @teenswhocode and Ziad Alame, Founder of @thespikeapp who attended in representation of Lebanese talent.

As part of LebNet Ignite6, these rising entrepreneurs connected with top Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, investors, thought leaders, and executives in an intimate, open, and collaborative environment along with 13 other startups selected from around the world.

LebNet provided coaching and mentoring meetings with both Ziad and Nour where they formed integral relationships and received valuable feedback about how to develop their business plans. Ziad met LebNet mentors Farah Fawaz and Amer El Hage- Amer ended up taking on an advisory position on Spike’s board which was an exceptionally great outcome for the Spike team! They also won the $50,000 SeedBoost competition as a follow-on fund from 3VCs.

According to Ziad, “LebNet paves the road for Lebanese founders to enter Silicon Valley and grasp it’s mentality via the support of amazing Lebanese business men and women over there.”

Nour met with Joe Haddad where he advised on the latest in tech and what would be most suitable to build the TeensWhoCode product. They also brainstormed several possibilities regarding the revenue model of TeensWhoCode. During her meeting with Omar Hmayssi, they focused on how to refine the unique value proposition of TeensWhoCode.

When asked about the experience, Nour said “It felt as if I had family in the Valley. Everyone is loving and supportive, and that’s what family is all about”.

LebNet Ignite culminated at the Global Startup Salon where both Ziad and Nour presented their startups to a wide audience of the highest-value members of the LebNet and Blackbox speaker, mentor, and investor network.

We can’t wait to see what the future hold for The Spike App and TeensWhoCode!

We kicked off 2018 with an exclusive evening with Dr. Alan Shihadeh, new Dean of the Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (SFEA) who was visiting the Bay Area.

In addition to his newly appointed role as Dean, Dr. Shihadeh currently serves as an advisor to the FDA, a scientific expert to the WHO, and a Project Director and Executive Leadership Committee member of the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products at Virginia Commonwealth University as well as many other roles in various prominent organizations. Read his full bio here.

Attendees took the opportunity to have an intimate and engaging event with Dr. Shihadeh as he discussed a new school of design within the faculty of Engineering and Architecture, redesigning the curriculm to include more classes on modern, soft skills, such as creative writing etc..

Dr. Shihadeh suggested to have LebNet members come in to teach short courses for 6 to 12 months, and to give talks to AUB students, in collaboration with LebNet.

The discussion was followed by dynamic Q&A and networking.

Special thanks to AUB Alumni Bay Area Chapter for their ongoing collaboration and to all who attended this sold event!