December 22, 2016

Where are they now? Catching Up With LebNet Ignite Alumni

An integral part of the Mentoring Program at LebNet is fostering long-term relationships between our Mentors and Startups. Our Mentors are more than Coaches- they are partners that remain a source of guidance and support for our Member Startups to optimize their chances of success. We caught up with the teams at Jellyfish, Synkers, Rational Pixels, NAR, and Vision In Motion to ask them how their business has evolved since participating in the LebNet Ignite Acceleration Program in Silicon Valley. Read about their journeys.

Joey Zeeny, CEO and Founder of Jellyfish

“Since our LebNet Ignite experience was crucial to the definition of the company’s core mission, we went back to the drawing board as soon as we got home.

“For the past few months, we’ve reworked our value proposition, which expanded from nonprofits and startups to tackle budget management for project teams in any industry. After updating our website, our primary goals have been to redefine the segments of our new target market and re-launch beta tests with a selection of our top customers and users. We’ve discovered new potential for Jellyfish among event planning companies and as a reporting tool for startup accelerators and VC funds in tracking their startups and portfolio companies. By January 2017, the goal is to have enough collected information to refine the business model and set out to a seed financing round aimed for mid-2017.”

Audrey Nakad, Co-Founder of Synkers

“As soon as we got back from Silicon Valley, we focused on making our model work in one university in Beirut before rolling-out to other universities. Here are the results:

In less than 2 months and in only one campus (AUB), we were able to attract 1800 users and pre-screen and interview 280 tutors. In addition, we were able to onboard 25 certified professional tutors for standardized tests. These tutors have a proven track record of successful scores and most of them teach at Amideast. Currently, there are 800 courses offered on the platform.

We receive over 40 tutors’ applications per week. It takes on average only 48-72 hours for a newly vetted tutor to get a client from Synkers. As of launching date, more than 2500 tutoring hours were completed through the platform. The number of hours tutored on Synkers is growing at rate of 38% per week. That’s not all! The number of first time bookers (new clients) is growing at rate of 29% per week.

We also won so far 2 competitions:
1- Hyundai Startup-Competition 2016
2- Finalist at “Femme Francophone Entrepreneur”

 

Charlie Khoury, Co-Founder of Nar

“During our last trip to the Bay Area we were able to make good connections within the pipeline industry and thus were able to get feedback on our development and refine our product in terms of efficiency, requirements, user experience, etc. We also had the chance to run some demos for potential clients in the Canadian & US market. The feedback was beyond amazing and further talks are scheduled. We’re currently finalizing our funding round and are aiming to achieve continuous usage of our product in at least one pipeline site during the next 18 months.”

 

Rida Sadek, Co-Founder of Rational Pixels

“I have been into negotiation of an investment deal for the last 8 months. Unfortunately, at the last minute, the deal went sour and we couldn’t agree. I have decided to move back to Barcelona and work in a more standard framework. We have made very good contacts recently with some companies in France and we are looking forward to collaborating with them starting 2017. I am still in contact with Mr. Pierre Tager from the Bay Area.”

 

We look forward to continuing to see what’s in store for these amazing group of talented individuals and teams!