News

New Club Allows You To Invest In Lebanese Startups For Just $50

The close-knit group will allow worldwide financial backers to support vetted, high-potential, home-grown Lebanese businesses.

Published

2 years ago

June 4, 2024

Nour Nasir

new club allows you to invest in lebanese startups for just $50

Berytech

In spite of its troubled economy, Lebanon is home to a burgeoning tech scene and is rapidly becoming a hub for startups and local talent outsourcing.

However, although the country has plenty of potential to shine on the world stage, so far, financial backers and venture capital firms have been slow to invest.

To that end, the leading online source for all things Lebanon, 961, has decided to take action. The result is a new Investor Club where financial backers can support Lebanese startups, helping to reduce unemployment and ignite the growth of a clean economy.

For as little as $50, investors can be part of a close-knit club that will allow them to back vetted, high-potential, home-grown Lebanese founders.

Here are some of the opportunities that the 961 Investor Club is offering local startups:

Tech & Digitalization: Innovations that drive digital transformation.
Solving Day-to-Day Problems: Practical solutions to improve day-to-day life.
Proven Startups Looking to Grow: Established local companies aiming to scale.
Companies Looking to Expand Abroad: Businesses preparing to enter new markets.
Taking Concepts/Franchises Abroad: Growing Lebanese brands globally.

Startups based abroad may be eligible for funding, but they’ll need to pass specific criteria. For example, companies must demonstrate potential for significant growth, maintain and keep a sizable team in Lebanon, and prioritize Lebanese hires wherever possible.

Also Read: Top 10 Best Freelance Platforms In The Middle East

In addition to the ever-popular tech startups, investors will also be able to back local restaurants, food trucks, nightlife venues, retail outlets, and franchises.

Experts will rigorously vet all businesses before they are presented to the 961 Investor Club, and members can choose to invest in whatever opportunities interest them most.

How To Join

Head over to the 961 website and fill out the form to join the club and be part of a private WhatsApp group. Alternatively, if you’re one of the Lebanese startups looking for a funding opportunity for your business, you can apply here.

News

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 9 And Ultra 2 Specs Leak Ahead Of Unpacked

An 800mAh Ultra 2 battery and a switch from Exynos to Qualcomm silicon headline the expected changes for Samsung’s next smartwatches.

Published

3 days ago

July 15, 2026

Nour Nasir

samsung's galaxy watch 9 and ultra 2 specs leak ahead of unpacked

Samsung’s next smartwatches have little left to hide. A new leak reported by Android Authority has surfaced most of the remaining details about the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, just over a week before the company’s Galaxy Unpacked event on July 22.

The biggest change is an invisible one: Samsung is expected to drop its own Exynos W1000 chip in favor of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite SW6100, a chipset unveiled only this year, according to the outlet.

Battery capacity looks like the other notable upgrade. Citing a report from Winfuture, Android Authority says the Watch Ultra 2 could reach 800mAh, well beyond the 590mAh cell in the current Watch Ultra. The 44mm Watch 9 reportedly gets a 445mAh cell — the same capacity as last year’s Watch 8 Classic — while the 40mm model stays at 325mAh.

The 40mm Watch 9 will reportedly feature a 438 x 438-pixel panel, with the 44mm Watch 9 and the Watch Ultra 2 sharing a larger 480 x 480-pixel screen. Samsung leaker Ice Universe has separately claimed the Ultra 2’s display could reach a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. RAM and storage vary by model, topping out at 2GB and 64GB.

Also Read: Tamper With The Recording LED & Meta’s Glasses Kill Camera

The Ultra 2 keeps its titanium case and 100-meter water resistance; the standard Watch 9 remains aluminum, rated to 5 ATM. All models are said to include Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, and dual-band WiFi, with the usual LTE variants, and ship with One UI 9 Watch running on Wear OS 7.

A separate leak puts the Galaxy Watch 9 at €409 (about $468) for the 40mm Bluetooth model, rising to €489 (about $560) for the 44mm LTE version, with the Watch Ultra 2 LTE at €749 (about $857) — figures Android Authority said were partially corroborated by Winfuture. Confirmation arrives on stage on July 22.