The upper end of estimates sizes the Lebanese diaspora at around 14 million people, while the population of Lebanon itself sits at just around 6 million. Adnan Ammache, born into the Lebanese diaspora, but raised in Lebanon, saw this as an opportunity. In 2018, he founded Presentail, a gift-giving platform specifically marketed to expats looking to surprise their loved ones back in Lebanon with something special for their birthday, or the holidays. In a country that’s only made the world’s headlines of late due to economic crises, Adnan and Presentail stand out with their growth, with lofty goals, and a drive to create more employment inside their country.
Category: Founder
Baker Bozeyeh, CEO and Founder of Flowless
Baker Bozeyeh, a sustainability engineer born and raised in Palestine, launched Flowless to address this very major pain point in his home country and region. Born out of Baker’s own work with a Palestinian utility company, he recognized the need for a better water management solution to optimize usage of this precious resource. Born out of Palestine’s Founder Institute Program, Baker and Flowless have been deploying their solution in Palestine and elsewhere in the region since about 2019. I had the chance to chat with him earlier in the summer. I hope you enjoy!
Majd Zkiyah, Founder of Syrpronet
Majd Zkiyah is a man on a mission. Having studied and worked in three different countries, and left his homeland of Syria at 17, he knows firsthand the challenges of building a career in societies where most people equate “Syrian” with a word like “victim.” Majd’s mission is to change that perception, and lift up the image of skilled, qualified, professional Syrians across the globe. He launched Syrpronet, a global network for Syrian professionals, in September 2019 to promote this vision.
Mays Alwash and Hani al-Dajane, Founders of Yalla! Let’s Talk
Launched in 2017, Yalla Let’s Talk has made a mission of tackling topics and narratives often left untouched by the Arab diaspora community, and lifting up the voices of young Arabs living outside of the MENA region. A quick scan of their website, and you’ll find content ranging from the stigma of mental health in the Arab community, to queer identity in the diaspora, to resources to support Palestinian voices. With nearly 70,000 followers on Instagram, YLT has tapped into a community ready to listen and contribute to these conversations.
Last summer, Mays and Hani took the bold step to build a business around this initiative. As a PhD student and corporate lawyer, respectively, in addition to managing Yalla Let’s Talk, neither of them has an abundance of free time. That said, they recognized the importance, need, and potential for the space that they’d built, and realized that to make that space sustainable, they needed to build a media company around it.
Marwan Abdelhamid, Co-Founder, GrowHome
Countries in the Middle East and North Africa, especially those currently or historically wracked by conflict and displacement, have generated waves of immigration and refugees across the world. For places like Lebanon and Palestine, this has led to a larger population living outside the historical borders of the country than inside them. Syria may see a similar phenomenon over the course of the next generation. Millions more from the Middle East and North Africa have simply left the region in search of better economic and educational opportunities. As the world has grown more connected, and capital, knowledge, and people can traverse the globe quicker than ever before, some have begun to wonder whether these tragic outcomes can transform into assets for economic development.Marwan Abdelhamid, a Palestinian living, working, and studying in the U.S. right now, is working on an answer to that question. GrowHome is a startup that he co-founded to build connections between the diaspora and entrepreneurs in their home countries.
GrowHome- مروان عبد الحميد
إنَّ بلدان الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا، ولا سيما تلك المناطق التي مزقتها الصراعات والتشرد سواء حاليا أو على مدى التاريخ، مؤديا الى موجات من الهجرة واللاجئين في جميع أنحاء العالم. وبالنسبة لأماكن مثل لبنان وفلسطين، أدى ذلك إلى وجود عدد أكبر من السكان الذين يعيشون خارج الحدود التاريخية للبلاد مقارنة بعدد الذين يعيشون داخلها. وقد تشهد سوريا ظاهرة مماثلة على مدى الجيل القادم. و لقد غادر ملايين آخرون من الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا المنطقة بحثا عن فرص اقتصادية وتعليمية أفضل. ومع تزايد ترابط العالم، وتمكن رأس المال والمعرفة والناس من اجتياز العالم بسرعة أكبر من أي وقت مضى، بدأ البعض يتساءل عما إذا كانت هذه النتائج المأساوية بامكانها أن تتحول إلى أساسات للتنمية الاقتصادية.
Aouf Abdellah, CEO and Founder, GO Platform, Algeria
Algeria and its potential has fascinated me for a while. It’s a huge country, with the largest population in the Maghreb (many of whom happen to speak at least two languages), a widespread diaspora, and an enormous youth bubble. The country seems ripe for disruptive startups, and yet, it’s lagged behind its neighbors in developing a startup ecosystem. The powerful central government has historically revolved around traditional industries, namely exporting petroleum. The country’s insular nature also makes it a bit harder to find “on-the-ground” information about entrepreneurship in Algeria, so I was really lucky to connect with Aouf Abdellah, the Algerian founder of GO Platform.
Abdellah is part of a growing movement of Algerians turning to entrepreneurship as the government loosens regulations and the economy looks beyond oil. Not only is he extremely optimistic about his country’s future and the economic opportunities therein, but he’s dedicated his career and startup to ensuring that Algerians across the country benefit from those opportunities. GO Platform’s mission is to provide young people with the opportunities and mindset to realize their dreams.
StartMENAUp 