Lebanon is building a tech conference brand during wartime. LebTech 2026 is expanding internationally, partnering with Startup World Cup, and betting that Lebanon's tech sector has a future worth investing in.

On June 26, 2026, several thousand people are expected to walk into Le Royal Hotel in Dbayeh, just north of Beirut, for the sixth edition of LebTech . They will attend panels on artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech, and digital transformation. They will watch startups pitch for a shot at a $1 million global prize. They will network with engineers, investors, government officials, and founders from across Lebanon and the wider region. And they will do all of this in a country where Israeli airstrikes have hit Beirut as recently as this month. A country where the electricity grid barely functions. A country that the World Bank has described as experiencing one of the worst economic collapses in modern history. That contradiction is what makes LebTech worth paying attention to. Not just as a conference, but as a signal. What LebTech Actually Is LebTech started as a modest gathering organized by the Lebanese IT Syndicate, the professional body representing Lebanon's information technology sector. Over the past few years, it has grown into what the organizers now call a "national technology summit." The 2025 edition, held in June at the MEA Training and Conference Center, drew over 5,000 attendees. That number alone would be impressive for any tech event in a small market. In Lebanon, where the economy has shrunk by more than half since 2019 and where tens of thousands of tech workers have left the country, it is remarkable. The event featured two days of panels, workshops, and exhibitions. Topics ranged from AI and workforce automation to accessible design, green tech, and women in technology. Sessions were organized by three professional bodies: the Lebanese IT Syndicate, the Lebanese Association of Certified Public Accountants (LACPA), and the Lebanese Graphic Design Syndicate. The government showed up too. Lebanon's Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence, Kamal Shehadi, delivered the keynote and used the platform to lay out the countr