Nicolas Rouhana, general manager at IM Capital, on the "Seeders" of Lebanon. Presentation delivered at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa (March 2017).

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“SEEDERS” OF LEBANON
Nicolas Rouhana
national lead
General Manager, IM Capital / Seeders
@nrouhana

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KSA
Iraq Iran
Egypt
Soudan
Bahrain
Syria
Algeria Kuwait
Jordan
UAE
Somalia
Tunisia
Yemen
Oman
Libya
Mediterranean Sea
Ocean Indian
2000 km
Geo-political context: Great home in a tough
neighborhood !

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Startup Funding in Lebanon: The LeapFrog !
Pre-
Acceleration
Acceleration Seed Stage
Series A, B,
..(VC)
Internationalization
Programs
Additional Funds
Idea Stage Seed Stage Growth StageMVP & Seed Stages
$30K
MatchingInvestment Stage
$1-5M
TheemarTrablos
Circular 331
Aug-2013

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MENA II: Encouraging Early-Stage Investments
Matching Capital Equity Guarantee Support Programs
Matching new private
sector investments
with Investment
Partners and/or qualified
angel investors to support
Early-Stage Businesses
and Investments
Providing Qualified
Investors with a partial
guarantee on investments
in Early-Stage
Businesses and on
Venture Capital
Providing a range of
assistance to investors
and entrepreneurs,
including trainings, angel
coordination and
assistance, and
mentorship programs
VC .. with a “twist”

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Some Infographics since April 2015
163 Start Ups Met
17 Business Angels
not Matched
Selected for IC25
11
Co- funded
Companies
10
Business Angels
Matched
7 VCs Matched

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Let’s explore Angel Investing !
6
Existing
“angels”

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Seeders MBA 2016 – Learn & Earn
A One Year-long Program for “Novice” Angel Investors
• Pitches every 6 weeks (from September 8, 2016 to July 6,
2017):
- GBI Workshops on Investment Topic
- Meet MSMEs via Investment Meetings / Pitching Sessions
- Moderated Group Debrief – Voting on Investment (Majority
Decides)
• In Between:
- Conduct Due Diligence & Negotiation (Deal-leader)
- Attend Videos & Webinars on Investment Topic
- Commitment
• $15K Each in a Common Pool for Investing in an SPV, 50%
Capital Guaranteed
• $2.5K Tuition – 50% Sponsored for First MBA Batch

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Investment vehicle
MSME
50% Capital Guaranteed
by
IM Capital
MSME
SPV
(Lebanese HOLDING S.A.L.)
Individual Investors shareholders
$15K$15K
$15K
3 – 4
investments
Average ticket
size: $80K
co-investment from
other funds
(IM Capital, iSME, etc)

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Info session
June 2016
Formal launch
July 2016
Outreach

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And they were 26.. the “unusual suspects” !

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Seeders MBA 2016-2017 – Preliminary
Results
5 investment workshops
/sessions
39 startups pre-pitched
16 startups pitched
Due diligence with 9 startups
3 term sheets proposed

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Outreach
Angels “ambassadors” promoting Seeders
experience and angel investment
opportunities
“Sparring with an angel” workshop

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Towards an Angel Network
13
Potential
Individual
Investors
MBA Angels
Angel Network
(formed by “MBA
Alumnis”)
Deal-Leaders
SideCar angel co-
investment fund
(accredited)
Identification Convening &
Educating
Training &
technical support
Co-investment
SEEDERS OF LEBANON
• Starting a batch for Women Business Angels Q2
‘17 with LLWB
• Create a side-car angel co-investment fund
• Lobby force (tax deduction for business angels,
etc.)
• Sector-based groups (Media, Mobile, Games,
Movies, Women, ICT, etc)
• Attract diaspora

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Parting thoughts: Lessons learnt
•Find a value proposition that works locally
•Trust is key
•Value-chain & eco-system is a must
•Scalability is key

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Thank you
Nicolas Rouhana
nrouhana@im-capital.com @nrouhana
seeders.co @SeedersMBA

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