In an international crisis like the one we actually living in, cards can be reshuffled in a snap.
Six months ago, Dubai had no competitor, everybody wanted to move there
When we took the decision to establish Kuv Capital head quarters in Beirut instead of Dubai, everybody explained us what enormous mistake we just made.
And when you look at the brutal facts, they were right.
In Lebanon:
- Broadband is expensive, slow and unreliable,
- Getting a stable electricity is a challenge
- Mobile plans are a ripp off
- Lebanon is unstable, etc..
- GDP is 4-6% at best
Where in Dubai:
- Broadband is fast and stable (but also really expensive and restricted)
- A double digit growth
- Freezone
- An international workforce
But our job is to anticipate trends, and we strongly believe that Beirut has a window to become a Digital Middle East Hub.
How I dare say that with that weak broadband infrastructure, unreliable power grid and Lebanon inability to reform itself?
Well, create a company is cheap and easy in lebanon (limited liability company starts at 3500 USD), so it is for office expenses, labor cost is for less expensive than in the GGC countries and last but not least there is great talents here.
All these are the necessary ingredients to create a startup and have a low burn rate. On the opposite, Dubai has been design to become the middle east headquarter for international groups, so offices are great but really expensive, so is the cost of living (talking about the expensive part), incorporation cost and minimum capital requested are too high, etc..
and this is not startup friendly.
So why Beirut is not considered? Because Beirut has a marketing/branding issue, nobody knows what is really happening here. I spent my last 8 months in Beirut and I can tell you a lot is happening here. I met amazing people and discovered great companies (see Rootspace for example).
How to solve that branding issue?
As a first step, we need to structure all initiatives as a real ecosystem by creating synergies, meeting, conferences, etc.. make it more readable for foreigners.
But to accelerate this change in perception, we need go a step further. we need an iconic project to create a international buzz.
So we decide on to work on a crazy project: Create a media city in Lebanon.
Here is the idea. Find old warehouses or factories, rehabilitate them in offices with decent broadband and electricity, free spaces for students who want to work on innovative projects, Showroom for high tech companies, etc..
No it’s not a only a dream. We have already spotted 3 places around Beirut, talked to investors, convince 6 digital related companies and a media group to move in, etc..
The Silicon Valley started like this 20 years ago by gathering one after the others in place around San Francisco, Why not us ?
We will air a blog soon to gather all the information and coordinate actions
If you think I’m crazy, please let me know,
if you want to help, please declare yourself,
if you just want to show your support, leave a comment
if you just want to get updates, drop me an email.
