Beirut’s Bright Future As A Tech Hub For MENA, If Its Politicians Will Allow It

As my flight out of Beirut reached cruising altitude, and the seat buckle lights flickered off, I leant back in my chair and wondered if I had, in fact left the country just in time. Admittedly, it wasn’t quite an ‘Argo-esue’ escape from another Middle Eastern country, but labelling a controversial government minister on a conference stage as an “idiot” maybe wasn’t the wisest of moves. Beirut is not a town known for its placid history, after all. Furthermore, my comment had made the front page of the Beirut Daily Star the next day. Perhaps it was just as well that I left the next day.

But the trip was worth it. Beirut is rapidly shaping up to be a powerhouse for startups in the Middle East. It has many of the key elements: a highly entrepreneurial culture; incubators and accelerators; venture capital; some gradually favourable government policy and access to growth funding. The exits and the ‘PayPal mafias’ may be a ways off but its a beginning. In part because it is the most liberal state in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa)region, and has a western-style banking system bequeathed to it by the French a long time ago, Lebanon is uniquely poised to generate startups which aim both at the Arab world and the wider world at large.

Last week a new $71 million MENA-focused VC fund was announced by Leap Ventures, based out of Beirut. And the Lebanon Central Bank “Circular 331” initiative promises to put up to $400 million into the local startup economy. In addition, this year, the UK government is supporting a scheme to bring Lebanese startups to the UK and to the attention of London-based investors. Furthermore, late last year the country saw the launch of its very own Disrupt-style startup-focused conference.

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