Twelve founding teams, one stage and one top prize. That was the setup at the Pitching Ceremony and Awards that closed the Berytech x Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) EC² Incubation program, where each startup presented its venture and the progress it made during incubation.
Once the pitches were done, five startups were named finalists. Dent Secure took the Maroun N. Chammas Award along with a $3,000 cash prize. Brain Rush and Safe Dose joined it in the top three, according to an announcement shared by Berytech.
A University and Its Incubator, Side by Side
Berytech and USJ share deep roots. The university established Berytech in 2002, and it has since become a support hub for Lebanese startups and small businesses, offering workspace, mentorship and funding programs.
EC² focuses on the earliest stage of company building: helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into viable ventures. Participants received mentorship, capacity building and access to entrepreneurial expertise over the course of the program.
Who Spoke at the Ceremony
Senior figures from both institutions addressed the founders. Berytech Chairman and CEO Maroun N. Chammas, whose name the top award carries, spoke alongside Prof. François Boëdec, S.J., Rector of USJ.
Berytech Deputy General Manager Carla Saba and Dr. Ursula El Hage, Director of EC² and SIP, also delivered remarks.
What a $3,000 Award Buys at Day One
A $3,000 prize will not fund a company on its own. At the incubation stage, though, a named award gives a young team something concrete to point to when it approaches its first customers, partners or investors.
For Dent Secure, Brain Rush and Safe Dose, the ranking is a public endorsement from an organization that has backed Lebanese founders since 2002. All twelve teams leave the program with a full incubation cycle behind them, and three of them now carry a result they can put on the first slide of their next pitch deck.
