Speakers
Seasoned entrepreneurs, investors, and experts will gather on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean to share experiences, insights, techniques, methods, and know-how, dishing out how-tos for newcomers, dos-and-donts for the up and coming, and inspiration for the rest.
Riad Salameh Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon
Francois Bassil Chairman of the Association of Banks in Lebanon
Marianne Hoayek Director of the Executive Office at Banque du Liban
Tom Fletcher Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Lebanon
Mohamed Choucair Chairman of the Federation of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in Lebanon
Alexander M. Asseily Chairman/Co-founder of Jawbone & State
Paul Papadimitriou Founder of Intelligencr
Paul Bragiel Managing Partner at I/O Ventures
Jambu Palaniappan General Manager of Middle East & Africa at Uber
Kalina King Regional Director for General Assembly Asia
Mike Butcher Editor at Large of TechCrunch
Adrianna Tan Founder & CEO at WoBe Indonesia
Michael Lints Venture Partner at Golden Gate Ventures
Gary Stewart Director at Wayra UK
Deven Soni Co-Founder of Sprayable Energy
Till Ohrmann Co-Founder & CEO of The Pirate Summit
Rani Saad Founder of The Window
Mario Berta Regional Managing Director at Rocket Internet
Ramez Mohamed Flat6Labs CEO
Mouhamad Rabah President of Beirut Digital District
Antoine Saab Managing Director of Energy24
Maurice Sehnaoui President of BLC Bank
Darius Cheung Founder & CEO of 99.co
Elias Ghanem Co-Founder & CEO of Telr
Aiste Lehmann Director at TIDEA [Bosnia]
Jonathan Giesen Co-Founder & CEO of Transterra Media
Hassane Slaibi Co-Founder & CEO of Band Industries
Hind Hobeika Founder & CEO of Instabeat
Jamil Corbani CEO of Green Studios
Karin Venneri Founder & CEO of 1000 Italy
Alina Gratschner Business Development at Apora Ventures
Loraine Habib Business Development Manager at Bla Bla Car
Hala Fadel Chair at MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab
Ramzi Rizk Co-Founder & CTO of EyeEm
Hafez Virjee International Arbitration at Dechert & Co-Founder of Delos
Maroun Chammas Chairman at Berytech
Imad Riachi Chief Scientist at Essentia Analytics
Henri Asseily Managing Partner at Leap Ventures
Nicolas Sehnaoui Former Minister of Telecom
Stefan Gantchev Partner at LauncHub
Mark Haidar Founder & CEO of Vinli
Dimitris G. Kalavros-Gousiou Co-Found.er of Found.ation
Leen Segers COO at Tech.eu
Thijl Klerkx Founder of Thijl.nl
Marwan Kheireddine Chairman & GM of Al-Mawarid Bank
Yasser Akkaoui Editor-in-Chief at Executive Magazine & Founder of KConcept Holding
Walid Hanna Managing Partner at MEVP
Charlie Graham-Brown CFO at Seedstars World
Vitaly Golomb Founding Partner of CCC Fund
Ivan Hernandez Co-Founder of The Digital Loop
Jean Nehme Founder & CEO of Touch Surgery
Elise Nebout Le Camping Manager
Melissa Ablett Innovation Cluster Development Leader at CIC
Agenda
Listen to success stories from today’s makers, hear about proven investment strategies from Bangkok to Silicon Valley, discover how to find and retain talent, learn about international startup legal, accounting, and audit best practices, apply for leading accelerator programs, network and connect with industry leaders, meet and pitch angels and VCs, get up to speed on the latest trends, and walk away with Blueprints for Success for your startup, accelerator, VC, incubator, angel network, and related activities.
- Nov 20-21, 2014
- 20 Thursday
- 21 Friday
- Workshops

Registration & Coffee
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Formal Opening & Ceremony
10:30 am - 11:20 am
Opening Keynote
11:20 am - 11:40 am
Startup Success Stories – Panel
11:40 am - 12:30 pm
Coffee Break
12:30 pm - 12:50 pm
Big in Europe – Keynote
12:50 pm - 1:10 pm
Europe’s Startup Ecosystem: Opportunities & Challenges – Panel
1:10 pm - 2:00 pm
Lunch
2:00 pm - 2:50 pm
Investing in Asia – Keynote
2:50 pm - 3:10 pm
Asia’s Startup Ecosystem: Opportunities & Challenges – Panel
3:10 pm - 4:00 pm
The Knowledge Economy – Keynote
4:00 pm - 4:20 pm
The Other Knowledge Economy – Panel
4:20 pm - 5:10 pm
Big Data & Business – Keynote
5:10 pm - 5:30 pm
Coffee Break
5:30 pm - 5:50 pm
Lightning Round – Startup Competition
5:50 pm - 6:40 pm
Announcing the Finalists – Startup Competition
6:40 pm - 6:50 pm
Registration & Coffee
9:00 am - 9:30 am
Lebanon’s Ecosystem – Panel
9:30 am - 10:20 am
Innovation in Emerging Markets – Keynote
10:20 am - 10:40 am
Lebanon’s Investors – Panel
10:40 am - 11:30 am
Coffee Break
11:30 am - 11:50 am
From Silicon Valley to the World – Keynote
11:50 am - 12:10 pm
USA’s Startup Ecosystem: Opportunities & Challenges – Panel
12:10 pm - 1:00 pm
Investing: How To – Fireside
1:00 pm - 1:20 pm
Accelerators – Panel
1:20 pm - 2:10 pm
Lunch
2:10 pm - 3:00 pm
Shaping Entrepreneurs – Fireside
3:00 pm - 3:20 pm
Expats as Entrepreneurs – Panel
3:20 pm - 4:00 pm
Interventions
4:00 pm - 5:10 pm
Blueprints for Success – Closing Speech
5:10 pm - 5:30 pm
Coffee Break
5:30 pm - 5:50 pm
Introduction to Seedstars World
5:50 pm - 6:00 pm
Finalists Round – Startup Competition
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Coffee Break
7:30 pm - 7:50 pm
Announcing the Winner – Startup Competition
7:50 pm - 8:00 pm
BDL Circular 331: Legal and Practical Issues (Arabic)
20 Thursday, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Sales and Cash Flow Management
20 Thursday, 12:50 pm - 1:30 pm
Feeding the Entrepreneurial Fire: From Ideas to Reality
20 Thursday, 1:30 pm - 2:00 pm
10 Things to Know when Branding your Startup
20 Thursday, 2:50 pm - 3:30 pm
Master your Pitch and get the Money
20 Thursday, 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
BDL Circular 331: Legal and Practical Issues (Arabic)
21 Friday, 9:30 am - 10:15 am
Mentoring – Empowering Entrepreneurialism and Leadership Development and Success
21 Friday, 10:15 am - 10:45 am
From Concept to Product
21 Friday, 10:45 am - 11:30 am
Resolving Difficult Relationships
21 Friday, 11:50 am - 12:20 pm
Fundraising for Startups
21 Friday, 12:20 pm - 12:50 pm
Protecting Shareholders’ Rights in an Opaque Environment: A Case for Corporate Governance
21 Friday, 12:50 pm - 1:20 pm
Grow your Startup
21 Friday, 1:20 pm - 2:20 pm
The Art of Bootstrapping
21 Friday, 3:00 pm - 3:45 pm
Visualise your Blueprint
21 Friday, 3:45 pm - 4:30 pm
How a Startup could become Investment Ready
21 Friday, 4:30 pm - 5:00 pmSeedstars World Startup Competition
Seedstars World is an exclusive worldwide startup competition traveling to 35+ cities in 2014. On November 20 & 21 2014, the competition will be landing in Beirut as part of Banque du Liban Accelerate 2014. Application closed on November 14 2014. 25+ extraordinary startups will be exhibiting and pitching at the Conference.
Venue
Forum de Beyrouth – Beirut, Lebanon
Forum de Beyrouth – Conference Venue Coordinates- Official Conference Hotels:
- Le Grey
- Saifi Suites
on Twitter
F.A.Q.
If your question isn’t answered in the Frequently Asked Questions below, tweet us @BDLaccelerate!
- What is Banque du Liban Accelerate 2014?
-
Banque du Liban Accelerate 2014 is Lebanon’s 1st international startup conference, featuring over 50 stellar speakers from over 20 countries – Singapore to San Francisco – and 1000 select attendees. The Conference will take place on November 20-21 2014, at Forum de Beyrouth, in Beirut, Lebanon.
- Who is behind Banque du Liban Accelerate 2014?
-
The Central Bank of Lebanon is the host and organizer of Banque du Liban Accelerate 2014.
- How do I register my Startup for the SeedStars World Competition?
- How do I register my Startup for the Startup Square exhibition?
-
You must Apply to the Startup Competition! Click this Link
- How can I become a Sponsor / Partner?
-
Contact: BDLaccelerate [at] seeqnce (dot) com
- How can I become a Speaker / Moderator?
-
Contact: BDLaccelerate [at] seeqnce (dot) com
- How do I register for the Ecosystem Plaza exhibition?
-
Contact: BDLaccelerate [at] seeqnce (dot) com
- Who can attend the Conference?
-
Only individuals who receive an official invitation letter from the Central Bank of Lebanon can attend the Conference. Apply for an invitation by clicking on the “Apply Now” button in the header or footer navigation bar. Presella is managing the door at the Conference: no Conference invitation no entry.
- Who can attend the Speakers’ Dinner?
-
Only speakers at the Conference, and select guests can attend the Speakers’ Dinner. Non-speakers will receive a special invitation letter to the Dinner. Presella is managing the door at the Dinner: no Dinner invitation no entry.
- Who can attend the Conference Party?
-
Link coming soon.
- What are the spoken languages in Beirut?
-
All three languages – Arabic, English, and French – are spoken by the locals in Beirut. Feel free to use either of these three languages, there’ll always be someone around who can ‘undo to the letter’.
- How do I get around in Beirut?
-
UBER!
- Is Beirut Safe?
-
According to GOV.UK the areas you’ll be visiting and frequenting are GREEN.
- What is the meaning of Life?
-
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