Berytech Ideathon · Innovate in Agri-food & Cleantech

Kickstart Your Entrepreneurial Journey Innovating Solutions For Agri-food & Cleantech Challenges 

Experience entrepreneurship, brainstorm business ideas, collaborate with fellow aspiring entrepreneurs, get live mentoring, found your startup, solve global challenges, and win cash prizes, all in one single weekend!

Learn More

Berytech Ideathon · North Lebanon

University of Balamand, Koura
Friday, 7 February till Sunday, 9 February 2020

Berytech Ideathon · Mount Lebanon

Notre Dame University-Louaize, Shouf Campus
Friday, 21 February till Sunday, 23 February 2020

Berytech Ideathon · South Lebanon

Phoenicia University, District of Zahrani
TBA

Berytech Ideathon · Bekaa

Saint Joseph University (USJ)
TBA

ABOUT THEIDEATHON

Supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Lebanon, Berytech is organizing for the third year a series of Ideathons covering four different areas in Lebanon: North Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, South Lebanon and the Bekaa.

Berytech’s Ideathon is an exciting opportunity for developers, creatives, tech enthusiasts, engineers, entrepreneurs, innovators, business professionals, and university students who want to collaborate and innovate in the Agriculture, Food, Water and Wastewater Management, Solid Waste Management, Transportation, or Energy sectors over the course of one weekend.

If you have a business idea you’d like to pursue or a problem you’d like to solve but don’t know where to start or who to start with, Berytech’s Ideathon is the event to look for a team, validate your business idea, receive feedback from experienced entrepreneurs and mentors, and get started on your entrepreneurial journey.

Many of last years’ participants took it from there to further develop their startups, join bigger programs, get all the needed support to grow, be recognized and win larger local and global competitions. This year, it can be your turn!

HOW ITWORKS

To participate you can apply as a team or an individual, with or without a particular idea. On Friday night, you’ll pitch your own idea or listen to others pitching theirs, and after voting for the most interesting ideas, teams are formed (minimum of two per team).

Over the course of the weekend, mentors, entrepreneurs and industry experts will be there to guide you on validating, developing and fine-tuning your business idea and pitch. Pitching will take place on Sunday evening in front of a jury that will announce the 3 winners of the Ideathon.

THEPRIZES

1ST PRIZE

LBP 2,250,000

+ 3-Month Access to Berytech’s Business Support

2ND PRIZE

LBP 1,500,000

+ 3-Month Access to Berytech’s Business Support

3RD PRIZE

LBP 750,000

+ 3-Month Access to Berytech’s Business Support

THEAGENDA

  • 4:30 pm Registration
  • 5:00 pm Welcome Note & Introduction to the weekend
  • 5:30 pm Ice Breaking activity
  • 6:00 pm Presentation of ideas and team formation
  • 6:30 pm Ideation Workshop
  • 7:30 pm End of the day
  • 9:00 am Breakfast
  • 9:30 am Session on the Lean Canvas
  • 10:00 am Group work supervised by a pool of mentors
  • 12:30 pm Lunch
  • 1:30 pm Session on developing a Unique Value Proposition
  • 2:30 pm Group work supervised by a pool of experts, entrepreneurs and mentors
  • 5:30 pm Session on Pitching
  • 8:00 pm Dinner
  • You may stay and work as late as the venue will allow
  • 9:00 am Breakfast
  • 9:30 am Finalizing the pitch deck under mentors’ supervision
  • 11:00 am Open pitching session: teams will have the opportunity to perfect their pitch with the help of mentors
  • 2:00 pm Submission of pitches
  • 2:15 pm Lunch
  • 3:30 pm Closing ceremony and  pitches presentations
  • 5:00 pm Winners’ Announcement
  • 5:30 pm Wrap-Up and End of the Ideathon

FAQ

Yes, the venue will be accessible for participants to work from the time the event opens on Friday until the winners are announced on Sunday. Hot beverages and water will be served all through the event. If you are planning to work overnight at the venue, we advise to bring with you the necessary items like deodorant, warm clothes, earphones, a pair of socks and underwear, toothbrush and toothpaste, and phone chargers during the event. Sleeping accommodations are not provided.

As a team, you are expected to present a pitch deck about your solution in a 3-minute presentation. This will include the learnings from the Ideathon weekend: problem/solution, value proposition, business model, market validation, competitive advantage, go-to-market, team; and Ideathon weekend progress.

We recommend between 3 to 5 team members that have various skills including development, business, and design. However, we don’t have a limit to the number of people working on one idea as long as there is at least 2 members in the team attending the entire Ideathon weekend.

If you are one person and don’t have a team to apply with, you have 2 options: (1) Apply with an idea, and work with a team formed during the Team Formation on Friday, or (2) Apply with no idea, and join a team working on a cool idea you like.

Remember, the team must have at least 2 members attending the Ideathon to be able to pitch on Sunday.

Yes absolutely! If you don’t have an idea to work on, you can still participate in this amazing experience. At the event kick-off, there will be a Team Formation segment where teams and people will be matched based on skills and cool ideas they want to work on during the weekend.

Yes all sessions will be conducted in English. However, the majority of our team members and mentors do speak Arabic and French.

GETINSPIRED

Hear the stories of the teams who started at last year’s editions and got their startups rolling,  joining bigger programs, getting all the support they need, and winning larger local and global competitions.


Mushtic: developing biodegradable materials from agricultural waste and mushroom

They started at the Startup Weekend Mount Lebanon 2018, organized by Berytech. Then, they took part in the Agrytech Hackathon 2018, got enrolled in Agrytech Accelerator Batch 2 from which they graduated. They won the 2019 Hult Prize Lebanon semifinals, the 3rd prize of the UN environment West Asia Award, and the 1st prize of the Femme Francophone Entrepreneur 2019.


IoTree: The smart solution to monitor and protect each farmer's plot

IoTree journey started during the Startup Weekend Mount Lebanon 2018 organized by Berytech, in which they won the first prize, making their way to competing in and winning the first prize of the Agrytech Hackathon 2018. They got a direct pass to the Agrytech Accelerator from which they graduated. IOTree won awards in the LIRA Fund 2018 ceremony, the Lira 14th Forum. The CEO Nisrine El Turky got awarded as one of the top 3 women entrepreneurs of the year in the Arab countries. The startup won the Global Summit Venture Competition 2019 regional round and represented Lebanon in the finals in California. IOTree also partnered with Touch to work on the NB-IoT technology and graduated from their Technology Innovation Program.


Clean2O: Bringing clean and safe drinking water for people in need

Clean2O won the 2nd prize at Startup Weekend North Lebanon 2018, organized by Berytech. They were selected in the Cewas Start-up program and won a trip to the World Water Week in Sweden. They were part of the Tripoli Entrepreneurs Club Accelerator and won the 2nd prize in Startup Seeds. They won 1st prize in the IAAF (Inas Abou Ayyash Foundation) and won 2nd prize in the Lebanese Future Agro Challenge.


Cubex- Compost Baladi

CubeX: The home-scale wastewater and solid waste treatment system

CubeX started at Startup Weekend Bekaa 2017, organized by Berytech. Then, the team applied to Agerytech Accelerator and graduated successfully. CubeX also took  part in the Cewas Start-up program and won a trip to AMWAJ conference in Barcelona. They also successfully graduated from the Startlife accelerator from the Netherlands.


WATCHVIDEO

REGISTERHERE

STAYCONNECTED

Application is now closed. If you’re interested in applying to next year’s edition or any other Berytech events, subscribe to Berytech’s Mailing List and stay updated with all our upcoming competitions, programs, trainings and events.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Should you have any questions or would like to contact us, please email us on ideathon@berytech.org, and we will get back to you.

Berytech © 2020 | Berytech Ideathon