More than $20 million for Berytech tech fund

Investments target value-added creative sectors

Berytech is planning to launch its second fund by mid-2014, said Paul Chukrallah, Managing Director of the Berytech Fund II.

The new fund will primarily focus on creative industries in added value sectors, particularly those related to digital content, movies, music, industrial design, fashion, and renewable energies.

The Berytech Fund II is expected to have a greater target size than the first fund launched in 2008. It targets a capital of $25-$35 million intended for new potential innovative startups and SMEs, said Chukrallah. The Berytech Fund-I had over $6 million under management.

“So far, we have managed to raise more than $20 million, so we are more than half way to release the fund,” he said. If it manages to attract more funding, the Berytech Fund II might be launched in the first quarter of 2014. The fund was planned since early 2013, but its release was postponed due to the economic slowdown and turmoil.

The fund is part of the Berytech support ecosystem focused on enterprise development that started in 2002 with the establishment of Berytech Technology Pole, the first technology incubator in Lebanon. The fund invests between $100,000 and $1,200,000 per transaction for companies looking for both funding and management, technical, and marketing support to achieve growth.

Berytech will contribute to the development of the new fund, while actively involving specialist partners. “We will be working in collaboration with other incubators and accelerators to support entrepreneurship best,” said Chukrallah.