Lebanon is not known as a hub for innovation, but, hey, a country with such a reputation for trade and a diaspora 4 times the size of the homeland can't be bad at finding new ideas. If Lebanon is definitely not an easy country, it's a great hub for the Levant countries, with the top web conference of the region (Arabnet), a recent law that gave the Central Bank $400m (1% of their GDP) to invest in startups, and quite a few success stories, from Anghami, the Spotify for Arabic music, to Instabeat swimming goggles. In this review, we explain where the innovative spirit of Lebanese people come from, what are the startups and key people to know there, and their strengths and weaknesses. Read more about us as we roam the world to explore the emerging markets startups scenes, from Iran to Chile, from China to Nigeria. Reach us at: martin@innovationiseverywhere www.innovationiseverywhere.com

1. Startups from Lebanon
Following the Arabnet Conference in Beirut
March 2014

2. #1 – Instabeat, the smart swimming goggles
• Connected swimming goggles to scan motion & heart rate
• Indiegogo $50k+ campaign, $100k seed-funding and undisclosed
series A in Jan. 2014
• Founder Hind Hobeika is a former swimmer

3. #2 – Anghami, the Spotify of the Middle-East
• A streaming music service with
almost exclusive access to
MENA region music labels,
serving clients there + diaspora
• Partners with major labels (EMI,
Sony, Universal) and telcos,
known funding of $1.25M
• 3.4M users, 100K paid-for

4. #3 – Shahiya, the Arabic world cooking platform
• A cooking platform online with 5K+ recipes and 1.3M unique
visitors each month, mostly from Saudi Arabia
• $500k in funding in 2013

5. #4 – Cedar Books, a source of books for Amazon
• Sourcing books in the Arabic world and beyond for Amazon and
other retailers. 1.5M books sold.
• Founded in 2009, $20M revenues in 2013 mostly in the US

6. #5 – Lamsa World, edutainment content in Arabic
• A platform for Arabic digital edutainment content for children
• $500k series A in 2014

7. #6 – Shawarmanji, the shawarma fast food chain
• 8 outlets in Lebanon and UAE
• $400k funded by MEVP in 2013

8. Our project
An exploration of innovation ecosystems across the world

9. Innovation has no place in a global world, it’s everywhere
Innovation ecosystems can learn from one another
Local context matters and should be a source for innovators
This is why…
We’re on a world tour of innovation ecosystems!
We believe…

10. Martin Pasquier
Entrepreneur in
Singapore (social
media agency), long-
time traveller
Mixes economics,
politics and travels to
analyze ecosystems,
reports on innovation
About our team
Analysis, community & network
Anne Lalou
CEO of Innovation
Factory & Web School
Factory in Paris
Transfer knowledge of
ecosystems to new
generation and to a
network of top French
companies
Nicolas Loubet
Serial entrepreneur
in Paris
with 3 companies,
growth hacker
Manages and
nurtures creative
communities
on & offline

11. A world tour of innovation: 2013-2014
SUPPORT US! Travel & time of exploration isn’t free 
Custom reports on emerging markets & trends
Workshops, talks on innovation trends
Connection to key local players for VCs, brands, tech communities

12. Thanks!
Martin Pasquier, for Innovation is Everywhere
martin@innovationiseverywhere.com