Digital Summit
August 1-5 2018

Startup Battle

The Startup Battle competition aims to showcase the best of regional startups to an enthusiastic crowd of investors, incubators, media and digital professionals, as well as connect entrepreneurs with the digital world.

 Submit your startup to the Startup Battle competition for a chance to pitch on stage at the ArabNet Beirut!

Submitting Your Startup

Eligibility Criteria
  • Startup must be less than 2 years old
  • Startup must have less than 30 employees
  • Startup must have less than $2M in investment
  • Startup must be functional before the deadline of the competition
  • Startup must be a web or mobile application

Judges

A panel of judges will review the submissions and shortlist the finalists for the competition. Judging will be based on the following criteria: value proposition, target market, competitive advantage, business model, innovation, team qualifications and market/sales strategy.

Based on the results, 10 finalists and 5 runner-ups will be chosen.
Finalists will be announced: 02 February

Finalists

  • Receive 2 free passes for the full event.
  • Present their startup for 5 minutes at the ArabNet Beirut Conference. (Finalists will be given several rounds of guided training and feedback on their presentation for the Conference)
  • A table top at the TechFair during the Forum Days
  • Being part of ArabNet Alumni Club and benefiting from all its offerings

Runners-Up

  • Receive 2 free passes for the Conference.
  • A table top at the TechFair during the Forum Days.
In the event that a finalist can't make it to the event, gets disqualified, or withdraws, the runners up will be contacted to replace finalists based on their order.

Winners

Three winners will be announced during the closing ceremony on on February 22.
Winners will be flown to Dubai with accommodation for ArabNet Digital Summit 2018 (April 30 - May 1) and will get to compete at the Startup Championship and assert their startup among the best in the region. Winners will also receive two free passes to the Digital Summit, in addition to an exhibition booth space where they will be exposed to world-class investors and international media, and have access to the Matchup sessions.
The Championship winner receives
  • $ 20,000
  • Acceleration scholarship in Silicon Valley
  • In-kind prizes from partners

Registering to Attend the Conference

When you submit to the Startup Battle competition, your application gets processed by our team to make sure it is complete
and meets the eligibility criteria.
Upon approval, you will receive an email titled "Your Startup Battle Submission Has Been Approved!",
which contains a promo-code that looks like this: X3QHHKZLmJ0. The promo-code is valid for one use only.

Go to the registration page and enter the promo-code to receive the discounted Entrepreneur rate for the conference.
Only Startup Battle and Ideathon applicants will be eligible for the Entrepreneur rate.

  • Deadline for Early Bird Registration:

    10 January

  • Deadline for Regular Registration:

    15 February

  • Late Bird Registration Deadline:

    19 February




On site registration is available at the door during the conference.

Logistics

StartUp Battle and Ideathon Finalists pitch on stage at ArabNet Beirut 2018 on 21 February, and are required to be there one day in advance, 20 February, for the last round of pitch training at the conference venue: Hilton Beirut, Habtoor Grand Hotel.

Winners will be announced during the closing ceremony on 22 February.
For visa-request invitation letters kindly send an email to: beirut@arabnet.me

ArabNet Beirut 2018 Winners

  • 1st Place:
    Cherpa - an online platform that teaches robotics to youth in a fun and interactive way.
    Empowering youth with the necessary skills to prepare them for a better future.
  • 2nd Place:
    Dox - a battery predictive maintenance platform that helps automotive companies eliminate inventory costs
    and unnecessary site visits while improving the reliability of their batteries.
  • 3rd Place:
    Lexyom - an online platform that enables users to find legal answers, legal services and connect with lawyers
    anytime, anywhere.