Tag Archives: Beirut

Jean Nehme – Touch Surgery

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Jean Nehme
Touch Surgery, Co-Founder

Jean Nehme, a returning speaker to BDL Accelerate, is a Plastic Surgeon and the Co-Founder of Touch Surgery, a game-changing mobile surgical simulator. Jean has been aiding surgeons to improve their skills while overcoming the challenges of being an entrepreneur.

When he and Andre Chow were still residents at the Imperial College London, they realized that they lacked additional experience outside of the operating room. Surgical simulators already existed but were not within reach, as they were expensive and stored away from the residents. This is how the two friends came up with the idea for Touch Surgery. Surgeons around the world have free access to this tool that would help them be better prepared for their patients.

This simulator is as close to real life as it gets: Filled with accurate surgical content, it shows users what could happen during actual operations. Because it prepares students to all kinds of scenarios, Touch Surgery has considerably improved the way they are taught, and the quality of their surgery. The app gathers the latest surgical procedures from the best institutions, and allows medical students to feel more confident before entering the operating room.

Surprisingly, patients who want to understand a procedure before they go under the knife are also downloading Touch Surgery, marking a true revolution in the surgical world for all parties involved.

With Touch Surgery, Jean Nehme has played a vital role in transforming the medical world we know through a digital innovation that enhances doctors’ surgical skills, prepares trainees for the operating room, and educates patients. Touch Surgery is truly an app that has exceptional promise for changing the future of surgeries.

You can watch Jean Nehme and other Lebanese entrepreneurs share their startup success stories at BDL Accelerate 2014:

 

Are Unicorn Startups Too Good To Be True?

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Unicorn is a term that was recently introduced in the venture capital industry. The term denotes startup companies that have soared to $1 billion valuation or higher.  Just like unicorns, the billion-dollar startup was once considered a myth because it was so exceedingly rare for a startup to be worth a billion dollars. Today there are over a hundred startup companies valued over $1 billion.

According to CBS Insights, there is a total of 142 unicorn companies with a cumulative value of $506 billion. Moreover, CBS Insights in collaboration with The New York Times have predicted 50 future unicorn companies. The list of unicorn companies comprises companies such as Uber, Snapchat, Airbnb, Pinterest, Dropbox, Spotify, and Jawbone to list just a few.

The list of unicorn companies has been growing at a rapid pace, almost doubling within 2015. This proliferation of unicorns has many concerned that it is a sign of a tech bubble that is ready to burst. The investors and observers who believe that a tech bubble burst is imminent point towards companies they consider to be unreasonably over-valued, such as Uber, currently valued at $51 billion, apparently a higher valuation than the entire global taxi market. They state that low interest rates have pushed more money into venture capital investment creating a false sense of security.

However, many argue that what we are witnessing is actually a tech boom and these valuations are justified although tech stocks are at an all-time high, and startup valuations are hitting astounding numbers. They believe that these companies may be temporarily overvalued, but they have real revenues and the economies worldwide are shifting in their direction, taking into account the surge of the number of people connected to the Internet that increased from 450 million people in 2000 to 3 billion people in 2014 and the mobile revolution. They state that when you view these high-growth startups as a long-term portfolio, it is evident that there is no impending danger or risk of burst.

The question remains, are unicorns no longer a magical occurrence or are we witnessing a unicorn bubble?

Ahmad Ashkar – Hult Prize

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Ahmad Ashkar
Hult Prize, CEO & Founder

Ahmad Ashkar is the CEO and Founder of the Hult Prize Foundation, named by President Bill Clinton and Time Magazine as one of the top 5 initiatives changing the world. Ahmad is one of the world’s notable experts in crowd and venture philanthropy. He specializes in entrepreneurship, innovation and strategy, and global expansion.

As a Palestenian-American, Ahmad is also an active social entrepreneur in the West Bank where he recently co-founded PalestineWater Company, a public private partnership that delivers clean water to the residents of Palestine. His work has been regularly recognized across the globe receiving several accolades; Harvard Business Review recognized Ahmad as a social innovator, the World Economic Forum nominated him as Young Global Shaper, and he has also been nominated as TR35 Pan Arab Top 35 Innovators Under 35, and a Power 30 Under 30 nominee.

Ahmad also serves as an adviser to both private and government sector entities across the Middle East and Latin American consulting on youth empowerment, entrepreneurship, crowd science and social entrepreneurship. As a recognized expert, he regularly appears as a coach and speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative, World Economic Forum, UN Social Innovation Summit and other notable gatherings.

The Hult Prize Foundation is a startup accelerator for young social entrepreneurs. Hult Prize is the largest student competition for social good in the world: the annual, year-long competition which pits MBA and college students from around the world against each other in a bid to solve the planet’s biggest social issues. The winners receive US $1 Million in seed capital as well as mentorship from the international business community, to help launch a social enterprise.

Since the Hult Prize was founded in 2009, it has been bringing sustainable change to some of the poorest people in the world and tackling several of the world’s social issues. The businesses created generate sustainability through profitable business models that are designed to bring social and financial impact. Winners have gone on to create businesses that provide holistic services at affordable prices to slum-dwellers specializing in chronic disease management, the world’s largest solar lights distributor, an alternative protein industry in micro-livestock, and a few other notable businesses.

By creating Hult Prize, Ahmad changed the world of social entrepreneurship and has been making an impact on the world. Ahmad, one of the truly inspirational and influential people in our world today, will be speaking at BDL Accelerate 2015.

Marianne Hoayek – BDL

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Marianne Hoayek
Banque du Liban, Director of the Executive Office

Governor Riad Salameh assigned Marianne Hoayek to the challenging task of restructuring Banque du Liban (BDL) in 2005. This huge endeavor was the starting point for Hoayek’s tenure at BDL. 10 years later, she is the Executive Director of the Executive Office that reports directly to the Governor.

The main mission of the Executive Office is to manage and follow up on the organization and reform projects that fall within BDL strategic orientation, and to coordinate their implementation in addition to promoting Corporate Social Responsibility. It is also the Executive Office that oversees the implementation of BDL Circular 331 that encourages Lebanese banks to invest in the startup ecosystem that resulted in US $400 million startup funds. This ambitious project aims to create employment opportunities, and generate income and economy growth.

BDL Circular 331 looks to reverse the trend of Lebanon’s university graduates leaving the country to look for jobs elsewhere. Hoayek stated in her speech at BDL Accelerate 2014 [insert link to script] that Lebanon has the human capital and talents required to develop a startup ecosystem but what was missing were the appropriate tools and financing hence why BDL decided to intervene. It is through BDL Circular 331 that many companies now have the chance to bring their innovative ideas to life not only through the financial aspect, but also by backing and supporting boot camps and training programs that would support and help entrepreneurs develop further.

You can find Marianne Hoayek’s speeches from BDL Accelerate 2014 at the below links:

To watch her speech at BDL Accelerate 2014 Opening Ceremony click here.
To read her introduction speech click here.
To read her closing note click here.
Or watch her closing note click here:

Riad Salameh – BDL

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Riad Salameh
Governor of Banque du Liban

Riad Salameh graduated with a degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut. He has been the Governor of Banque du Liban (BDL) for 22 years. He was appointed in1993 and then reappointed for three consecutive terms in 1999, 2005, and 2011. In this capacity, he chairs the BDL Central Council, the Higher Banking Commission, the AML/CFT Special Investigation Commission, the Open Market and Investment Committees, and the Capital Markets Authority. Moreover, he is a member of the Board of Governors at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF). Prior to becoming Governor, he had an extensive career in Merrill Lynch Beirut and then in Paris, where he was the VP and Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch.

It is with Governor Salameh’s leadership and his belief that the knowledge economy should become one of the pillars of Lebanon’s economy, along with his confidence in Lebanon’s human talent, that BDL issued BDL Circular 331 to encourage Lebanese banks to invest in this sector.

As governor of Banque du Liban, Governor Salameh has maintained economic stability despite all the political and military turmoil Lebanon has faced since 1993, as well as numerous global economic crises. His achievements have been recognized locally and globally. He has received numerous awards and accolades throughout the years including Central Banker of the Year 2009 by The Banker Magazine, the 2006 Euromoney Award as the best Central Bank Governor in the World, the 2005 Euromoney Award for Emerging Markets as the Best Central Bank Governor in the Middle East, and several more Euromoney Awards.

To read Governor Riad Salameh’s  opening speech at BDL Accelerate 2014 click here and/or watch the opening ceremony: