Your place to find business opportunities and service providers

YOUR PLACE TO FIND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS

Brief us about how you thought of this initiative and services provided by Outerpond.

Following the Beirut port explosion, I was in the country and witnessed how the civil society, various NGOs, volunteers, the diaspora, and even foreigners banded together to help. While the politicians lamented, these various groups worked hard in alleviating the pain, clearing the rubble, and initiating the rebuilding process. As an entrepreneur living between Montreal and Beirut, I felt the urge to do something. I didn’t want to replicate successful efforts, and I started thinking about which sector was in dire need of help but was overlooked. It became evident that it was the private sector as it was most affected by the economic crisis, COVID, and the aftermath of the port explosion. Outerpond was created to partly answer the economic difficulties faced by the private sector. So instead of companies having to travel to different countries to get new business, they were now able to create a profile and look for business opportunities and projects featured by foreign firms on the platform.

Are there any beneficiaries from the platform? How many so far?

We launched the platform on July 16, 2021, and have been able to feature projects and opportunities valued in excess of a million USD. More than 100 companies and startups have signed up both as Service Providers (based in Lebanon) and Service Seekers (based abroad). Some startups were created in 2021, other companies have been around since the 1900s, some have less than 4 employees and others are in excess of a hundred. We have different categories ranging from Accounting and Consulting to AI, Architecture, Engineering, and Pharma. The platform follows a Freemium model so all registrations are free.

Is the Lebanese media helping with the spreading of the Outerpond mission?

We did get coverage in Canada on behalf of Lebanese outlets, as well as a 16-minute segment during an extremely popular economic show on Radio Canada. The feedback from that coverage was incredible, we had several Canadians reaching out to sign-up and help. In Lebanon, the process seems a bit more complex. It might be partly our fault since we have not tried too much. We nonetheless reached out to a leading newspaper by sending the 16-minute coverage we got on Radio Canada, hoping they too would want to talk about a positive initiative, and we are awaiting their feedback.

Our primary objective is to become the primary catalyst of support to the Lebanese private sector."

Do you have any support from the Lebanese Government or any other public institution?

As a private initiative, we’re not looking for governmental support. That said, we had been invited to an outsourcing event held by the Lebanese embassy in Washington DC a few days following our July launch. We have also been introduced to several economic attaches abroad, and they are aware of the platform. I am confident that they will spread the word about it, since it is the best way to start promoting Lebanon as an outsourcing option, by giving foreign companies the means to do business with Lebanese companies.

What reasons would Lebanese and foreign companies have to trust Outerpond?

Trust takes time to build. We are however proud of the partnerships we were able to sign with business associations such as the RDCL and the FBN Levant network on the local level and with the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Canada Liban (CCICL), and the U.S. Global Chamber, on the international level. We also have partnerships with NGOs, such as ALAM, a Swiss-based entity doing a fantastic job alleviating the pain in Lebanon. We also have partnerships with Berytech locally and with Blue Tree Advisors in Geneva, to name a few. Does it mean that we are on the right track in building Outerpond’s credibility and trustworthiness? I hope we are, otherwise, none of these well-known entities would have agreed to partner with us.

What is the long-term vision of Outerpond?

Our primary objective is to become the primary catalyst of support to the Lebanese private sector, by bringing an increasing number of business opportunities to MSMEs and helping them alleviate the impact of the economic crisis. It is certainly a tall order, and when successful, we will assess an expansion towards new markets.