The inaugural cohort of the SYMZ CAPITAL Venture Ignition Program Powered by AKSOB, composed of 26 aspiring entrepreneurs from universities across Lebanon and abroad, pitched their projects to a jury of executives, industrialists, and academics at the two-day Venture Lab competition for a chance to win an ignition grant.

Participants in the program had turned promising ideas into investor-ready startups after six weeks of intensive mentoring, workshops, and venture development, during which they worked alongside entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and industry experts to test assumptions and refine their business models.

Following two days of pitches and deliberation, on July 14 and 15 at the Gulbenkian Theater on the LAU Beirut campus, the jury recognized three ventures that demonstrated innovation, market potential, business viability, and the entrepreneurial qualities needed to transform ideas into scalable businesses with meaningful economic and social impact.

The initiative was launched from a shared commitment between LAU’s Adnan Kassar School of Business (AKSOB) and SYMZ CAPITAL to strengthen Lebanon’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by connecting academic learning with industry expertise, mentorship, and real-world venture creation. 

AKSOB Dean Dima Jamali remarked that the reason many successful ideas never change the world is not that they lack potential but rather that they never leave someone’s mind or notebook. Through the program, participants are challenged to advance their ideas by testing assumptions, embracing setbacks, and developing the confidence to become problem solvers, builders, and leaders.

“What makes this program different is that it brings the market into the learning process,” said Dr. Michel Majdalani, director of AKSOB’s SYMZ CAPITAL Venture Ignition Program. “Participants do not simply develop ideas in a classroom. They receive continuous feedback from investors and industry experts, helping them refine their ventures based on real-world needs.”

By the time the participants reached the final competition, they had progressed from developing concepts to building ventures with genuine market potential, equipped with the entrepreneurial mindset and practical skills needed to bring their ideas to life.

The competition culminated in a public showcase of 17 ventures during which they received a certificate of completion. The closing ceremony was held under the patronage of Dr. Fadi Makki, Lebanon’s Minister of State for Administrative Reform. 

Participants pitched their ventures to a multidisciplinary jury representing venture capital, banking, technology, entrepreneurship, and academia, receiving valuable feedback from leaders with expertise in investment, business growth, innovation, and venture development.

The jury included Michel Bayoud, founder of SYMZ CAPITAL; Houssam Chehabeddine, global executive; Ralph Khairallah, former chief growth officer at Beirut Digital District; Victor Hamouche, managing partner at Antartica Partners; Dr. Grace Dagher, chair of the Department of Management Studies at AKSOB; Dr. Majdalani, director of AKSOB’s SYMZ CAPITAL Venture Ignition Program and co-chair of AKSOB’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategic Committee; and Omar El Hachem, investment analyst and ESG officer at Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP).

In his keynote address, Dr. Makki encouraged participants to approach entrepreneurship with a deeper understanding of the challenges they aim to solve.

“The most successful entrepreneurs do not begin with technology,” he said. “They begin with a problem, an unmet need, and a genuine understanding of the people they are designing for. Innovation starts with empathy before it starts with engineering.”

Dr. Wissam El Solh, co-founder of the Entrepreneurship Center of Lebanon, encouraged entrepreneurs to treat every setback as an opportunity to grow.

Similarly, from an investor’s perspective, Mr. Bayoud emphasized that successful ventures are ultimately driven by the people behind them. 

“A great idea alone is never enough,” he said. “What truly makes the difference is the person behind it. Great founders can refine and evolve their ideas, but even the best idea cannot succeed without the right person to bring it to life.”

The SYMZ CAPITAL Venture Ignition Program, he added, is designed to help promising ideas become sustainable businesses through continued mentorship and investment. 

The first-place award went to Yara Kahale (BS ‘24, MBA ‘26) for SKIN UP. As the competition’s top-ranked venture, her project earned an ignition grant to support its continued development and market readiness.

The second-place award was presented to The Z Connect Team, represented by Selena Serhan, a 2026 finance graduate from the American University of Beirut (AUB); Karl Chabbouh, an AUB finance graduate; and Ali Hamieh, an information technology management senior student at AKSOB. 

Third place was awarded to SAWT, represented by Maurice Abdou, a senior finance and management student at LAU, and Anthony Moarbes, a law student at Sorbonne University. 

For many participants, the program was a launchpad for entrepreneurship, equipping them with the experience, industry connections, confidence, and support needed to transform ambitious ideas into ventures.