We are shedding some additional light on Berytech Technological Pole today. Berytech is the first Lebanese business development center, providing hi-tech hosting, incubation, training and counseling to SMEs. It has been spearheaded by the Université Saint-Joseph in 2001, and has become a national reference for SME support, overseeing the establishment of tens of start-ups and created more than hundreds of jobs in technology sectors such as IT and multimedia. Berytech helps people on the road to self-employment by assisting existing and aspiring entrepreneurs to identify projects and business opportunities, develop their entrepreneurial skills, and help them access information and funding. The incubation and office modules are scalable, from hot-desks to large self-contained units, responding to different developmental stages of growing companies. Resident companies benefit from a shared infrastructure allowing them to operate from the first day with low start-up costs. Berytech runs entrepreneurial training modules for entrepreneurs to hone their business skills and assist them in the start-up and development phases. It is a full-member of EBN (European Business Network) and is accredited with the BIC (Business Innovation Centre) label by the European Commission in conformity with 18 excellence criteria for incubators. To date, about 200 centers in 22 countries around Europe have acquired the BIC label and Berytech is the first and only center in the Middle-East to receive it. The EBN network provides networking and visibility for small innovative firms, as well as access to international markets. Berytech is host to the first Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in Lebanon. The Beirut IX allows local Internet traffic from different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to move through a local bandwidth, at faster speed and at a lower cost for the service providers. It has resulted into a more reliable local bandwidth, optimized international speeds and an improved quality of service. Berytech is the local partner for an initiative spearheaded by Philips Corporation and MBR Foundation, which consists of a competitive process to stimulate young local talent to develop business concepts supported by technology innovations. Winning innovators will have the opportunity to develop their business case during a 6-month internship within Philips’ High Tech Campuses, R&D and incubator facilities, all expenses paid. Berytech is an accredited Micro-Enterprise Acceleration training center aimed to serve micro-entrepreneurs, small business owners and other professionals who are interested in knowing more about the benefits of using ICT in their day-to-day business challenges. Of interest is the fact that Berytech is a Microsoft BizSpark network partner: BizSpark provides access to Microsoft development tools and production licenses of server products; professional technical support from Microsoft; and connections to a community of business experts who can guide startups through the hurdles of growing their business. Berytech set up a seed capital Fund, which is the most suitable early-stage financing for startups. The “Berytech Fund” invests in privately negotiated transactions identified and screened by Berytech. The Fund has a capitalization of 6 million USD, and Cisco Systems and Intel Capital are among the various shareholders. The investment ticket ranges from 100kUSD to 1MUSD with a life of 7 years, and the fund is to invest in approximately 8 to 10 portfolio companies in technology, primarily operating or planning to operate inside the Berytech technology pole.
