Beiruting News

In a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Leap Ventures announced the start of the process of Series B financing that will identify select companies at growth stage operating in the digital and tech fields in Lebanon. This step follows the completion of the first round of fundraising for the venture capital fund, conceived in light of Lebanon's Central Bank circular 331 initiative, which closed at $71 million. Leap Ventures reiterated its belief in Lebanese talents who are important agents of the knowledge economy regionally and globally.

The press conference presented the operations and processes of the venture capital fund and introduced the members of its investment committee to various stakeholders in attendance. Additionally, the audience learned more on the vision of Leap Ventures that sees itself as part of the tech revolution and a champion of tech startups in Lebanon.

Founder and Managing Partner Mrs. Hala Fadel elaborated on Leap Ventures' goals that support entrepreneurs and startups in Lebanon and expand their reach to the regional and global markets. Fadel explained that Leap Ventures offers consultancy, research, and expertise to help the startups devise effective long-term strategies.

Fadel affirmed, "Leap Ventures' mission is to employ the substantial knowledge of its co-founders to invest in Lebanese startups and to guide those to make their entrepreneurial leap. Leap Ventures hopes that it will provide hope to the Lebanese youth to stay and invest in their country."

The press conference included a panel discussion moderated by the Manager of the Office of the CEO at Bank Audi, Randa Safah, and the members of the investment committee at Leap Ventures who are: Mr. Abdulaziz B. Al-Loughani, founder and ex-managing partner of Talabat.com and currently the vice Chairman and Executive Director of the Kuwait National Fund for SMEs Development; Dr. Khaled Ismail, founder of D-Soft that was acquired by Intel; Dr. Karim Hussein, founder of DKimia and previous CTO of WebMD; and Mr. Numan Numan, founder and managing partner at 212, a Turkish VC. The panel discussed the decision making process to identify the appropriate startups whose exit and success is of high probability.

Leap Ventures thanked the Lebanese Central Bank for pioneering such an initiative in the region and thanked the following private banks for their participation in the fund: BLOM and BLOM Invest, SGBL, BLF, FransaBank and FransaInvest, Bank of Beirut, Bank Audi, Byblos Bank, BankMed, Credit Libanais, Near East Commercial Bank, CSC, Lebanon and Gulf Bank, First National Bank. Leap Ventures also announced the opening of the second of round of investment.