Dear all,

U.S. Embassy Beirut is pleased to announce the 2019 Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) competition. The 2019 GIST Tech-I Competition offers science and technology innovators and entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 to 40 an opportunity to compete for mentorship, training, and seed capital.

The 2019 GIST Tech-I Competition offers young science and technology innovators and entrepreneurs an opportunity to compete for mentorship, training, and seed capital to advance their ventures. Early stage science and technology startups will earn a spot by applying through an online application. Each application will be reviewed by experts to pick the top applicants. Top applicants will go on to a global public vote, and the top 24 startups will receive a paid trip to the 2019 GEC in Bahrain (April 15-18, 2019) for the final round of the Tech-I Competition. Finalists will both gain international visibility from pitching their ideas at GEC 2019, and compete for over $35,000 in seed capital and $200,000 in Amazon Cloud Computing credits. In addition, all finalists will receive extensive training and mentoring before the GEC and up to three months of mentorship following the GEC. The GIST 2019 Tech-I Competition implementers are the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

In 2019, the GIST Tech-I competition is seeking startups from all areas of science and technology innovation (e.g. agriculture, education, energy, environment, health, information communication technologies (ICT), oceans, and space science) who are still early stage (i.e. companies that have completed some market analysis, have a launch timeline or have recently launched a product/service for distribution, or have a realistic strategy to sell a product/service).

Applications for the 2019 GIST Tech-I Competition will be accepted until November 23, 2018. Applicants should submit responses to questions on their science or technology innovation along with a 90-second video explaining their idea or product/service at http://bit.ly/TechI2019.

Applicants must be Lebanese citizens or long-term Palestinian residents in Lebanon, must be between 18-40 years old on November 23, 2018, and either have a business or be willing to start a business in Lebanon.

For more information on the GIST Tech-I Competition, visit the U.S. Embassy or GIST Network websites.

U.S. Embassy Beirut

Tel: +961-4-543600 ext. 4244

https://lb.usembassy.gov/