Startups to survive
pause or relocate to GCC

Arabian Gulf Business Insight

Lebanon’s startup ecosystem, once a thriving hub of innovation in the Middle East, is now struggling to survive amid intensified fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has displaced more than one million people and compounded years of economic turmoil.

It is a devastating turn of events for a country that has struggled over the past five years with a dwindling economy and the exodus of some of its brightest minds.

Lebanon is no stranger to war, or financial and political crises. Its difficult economic landscape has produced a more resilient and innovative type of entrepreneur, but this latest conflict threatens the survival of what little startup activity was happening since the paralysis of the economy in 2019 and the Beirut port explosion in 2020. FULL STORY