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 And Spotify Offer Free Premium Deal In MENA

Nearly seven in ten streams in the region come from 18-to-34-year-olds — the audience Samsung is hoping to entice into its ecosystem.

Published

12 hours ago

August 7, 2026

Nour Nasir

Samsung

Samsung has announced a partnership with Spotify spanning the Middle East, North Africa, and Türkiye, bundling Spotify Premium with select devices across its ecosystem. The headline offer — up to four months of Premium for free — is a first for the region.

Customers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Türkiye who buy any OLED or 98-inch television, or any Galaxy S or Z series mobile device, get four months of Spotify Premium. The offer, tiered by market and device, is available at retail and on Samsung.com, and redeemed through the Samsung Promotion and Samsung Members apps.

For Samsung, the strategy is less about free music than about lock-in. The Korean tech giant’s pitch is continuity: a track starts on a Galaxy smartphone through Galaxy Buds on the commute, moves to a Samsung TV and soundbar in the living room, and stays controllable from a Galaxy Watch. The more seamlessly music travels between those devices, the harder it becomes to swap any one of them for a rival’s.

“Technology should bring people closer to the things they love, and few things connect people the way music does,” said Omar Saheb, Regional VP of Marketing and Online Business at Samsung Electronics MENA. The partnership, he added, gives customers “a genuine reason to choose Samsung for the experience, not only the product”.

Also Read: Shokz OpenFit Pro Review: Open-Ear Audio Finally Grows Up

For subscribers, Premium brings the usual package: ad-free listening, offline downloads, richer audio quality on Galaxy Buds and Samsung sound devices, and Jam, which lets friends build a shared queue.

“At Spotify, we are always working to make every listening moment feel more personal, meaningful, and worth it,” said Rami Jamal, Head of Partnerships at Spotify for South Asia, Middle East, and Africa.

The demographics go a long way to explaining the strategy. Across MENA, Türkiye, and Pakistan, nearly seven in ten Spotify streams come from listeners aged 18 to 34, according to the company — precisely the audience Samsung wants inside its hardware ecosystem before buying habits harden.