The TechWadi Roadshow Powered by Google for Entrepreneurs came to Beirut, Lebanon for the first time on October 24 -25, 2015.
TechWadi RoadShow was developed in partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs (GFE) a division of Google designed to support entrepreneurial ecosystems as an opportunity to expand outreach to the MENA region.
The “TechWadi Roadshow” consisted of two day-long educational workshops led by TechWadi and powered by Google for Entrepreneurs that brought experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and stakeholders straight from Silicon Valley to mentor local startups in Beirut.
The mentors included seasoned professionals from companies like Google, Yahoo, Facebook, as well as founders of various Silicon Valley startups. The event took place in UK Lebanon TechHub, the local host and partner who worked with additional ecosystem partners to accommodate as many entrepreneurs as possible.
The event kicked off with Daniel Navarro, Marketing Manager at Google for Entrepreneurs (GFE) & Christina Ashtary, Program Manager at TechWadi, who welcomed the attendees and introduced TechWadi Organization and it’s dedication to building bridges between Silicon Valley and the MENA region in partnership with GFE.
The event consisted of multiple sessions that provided engaging presentations discussing entrepreneurship, market development phases, startups and investments in the MENA region allowing attendees to learn from established experts including Sherif Badawi, a serial entrepreneur and technology executive, who currently serves as a partner to VCs and startups at Google, Ramy Adeeb, Founder & CEO, Snip.it (Acquired by Yahoo!), Walid Hanna, Managing director at MEVP and many more.
Day 2 was exclusively limited to a selected group of partners startups and entrepreneurs and focused on tailored mentorship meetings and design thinking workshops.
Attendees shared their excitement during the event by live-tweeting speaker quotes and photos of the event on social media using the following hashtag: #SV2MENA.
For those who missed the event, you can find slide decks of mentor presentations here. You can also apply for the 2016 TechWadi Sprint Acceleration Program or the TechWadi Mentorship.