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“Shakkel”, an idea to create an automated Arabic language diacritization app, won the first place and $4,000 in cash and in-kind services at Startup Weekend Beirut (SWB) 2013 competition that concluded in Beirut Souks on Sunday night.

"Shakkel" team in the final phase of preparations

Twelve teams originally registered for the no-talk all-action 54 hour event, that took place between Friday and Sunday (22 – 24 November, 2013). Eight teams made it to the final day and only three winners made it to the podium, selected by a judging panel of four investors and entrepreneurs.

Startup Weekend is an independently organized event that takes place in hundreds of cities around the world, where participants form teams, create startup ideas and prototypes with the help of mentors, and compete for cash and attention.

“TigTag”, a Chrome extension to recommend content through bookmaring other users, or reverse bookmarking, won the second place and prizes worth $3,000. According to the prototype, every user will be able to return later to all the content that they were bookmarked in.

“Pick Me Up” landed in third place and went back home with prizes worth $2,000. It’s a simple taxi app that connects passengers with nearby taxi services, notifies them about the car’s brand and options, and enables them to contact the driver, locate their location, and know their rating.

This is the fourth time for Beirut City Center to host the event.

“The ideas this year are much more mature than last year”, said Dani Arnaout, a developer and mentor at SWB. “Entrepreneurs now consider the Weekend as a real chance to start off their projects, rather than just an isolated competition”, he added.

The low turnout was the gossip of the event. Two Startup Weekends took place not too far from here last week, one in Mount Lebanon and the other in Byblos. “Attendees thought that they were enough, that’s why they haven’t come here”, commented Dani. "The expensive tickets can be another reason as well", he added. Otheriwse, it might be linked to the tricky security situation in the Lebanese capital

"The Lebanese market is small, and it apparently reached the saturation point", Abdallah Absi, the founder of eClub and the organizer of the event, told ArabNet.

Regardless, the attendees were happy enough. “The event was very well organized”, noted Walid Singer, the co-founder of Presella.com.

And these are a few tweets from the event’s official hashtag #SWBeirut:

"Shakkel" is an arabic diactritization software. Input أكل الولد التفاحة to get أكلٓ الولدُ التفاحةٓ #SWBeirutpic.twitter.com/xfY0zf2yyb

— StartupWeekendBeirut (@SWBeirut) November 24, 2013

Tictag is really cool guys. I hope you can make a business out of a chrome extension though #swbeirut

— Charbel Jamous (@charbeljamous) November 24, 2013

Be open, differentiate urself, stay selective..social media strategy tips from #SWBeirut#SmallTycoons by @mariafrangieh

— Joy El-Hajj (@joy_elhajj) November 23, 2013

Five More Teams

"Savelet" team testing their app

In addition to the three winners, some promising teams presented their ideas, like Savelet (or Saving Bracelet), an app that alerts lifeguards about the locations of people who need rescue throughout a bracelet with an SOS button wore by swimmers. In addition to beaches and resorts, the team targets airlines, promoting their product as a part of a suggested survival kit to be wore in cases of emergency, in order to notify rescuers about the exact location of victims.

"HomePage" duo showing us their family-oriented app

There was also HomePage, a family-oriented app that enables family members to sync essential information about the household, like who’s home? Is there electricity? Is the water heater on? And if there's food and what kind? The respondent should be home in order to answer the question(s), while their answers would sync to all the family members’ registered devices. The app is easy to use and cross-platform. First comes first, the team targets the local Lebanese market, and the regional market afterwards, “however the electricity button will prove redundant outside Lebanon”, joked Muhammad Hassan Al-Amin, the co-founder.

There was also Quick Teamup, a team builder app to be used in events like Startup Weekends; Taskey to connect freelance service providers with clients; and last but not least CaloRater, an intelligent voice recognition app connected to a scale that detects calories in foods and drinks. Users would say the name of the food, e.g. Mulukhiyah, and weigh the food, and leave the app to analyze the food for them. Later on, the app would notify users about the deficient vitamins that need to be compensated, and how many calories should be consumed daily, if you opt in a diet to lose weight.

And here are some pictures from the event:

The Venue in Beirut Souks

The organizers preparing for the final presentations

"TicTag" team rehearsing

"Shakkel" team during the final presentation in front of the judges

And the three winners

And that was the farewell tweet from @SWBeirut :

Thank you all for attending this year's event.. See you next year :) #SWBeirutpic.twitter.com/GjMSJ3TopT

— StartupWeekendBeirut (@SWBeirut) November 24, 2013