Berytech
Berytech Technological Pole is a Lebanese business development centre, providing hi-tech hosting, incubation, training and counselling to SMEs. It was launched in 2008 and 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.
Services
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.
European Business Network
Berytech 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.
Special programs
Berytech is host to the 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 in 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.
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 Fund
Berytech set up a small seed capital Fund geared at 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[1] 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.