Samer Karam
{{Short description|Lebanese entrepreneur, investor, author, and activist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Samer Karam
| image =
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| birth_name =
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| nationality = Lebanese
| occupation = Entrepreneur, investor, author, and activist
| years_active =2004-
| website = [http://linkedin.com/in/SamerKaram Samer Karam on LinkedIn]
}}
Samer Karam is a Lebanese entrepreneur, investor, author, and activist. He founded Seeqnce, the first startup accelerator in Lebanon, created the Accelerate conference, and has had a leading role in building Lebanon's startup ecosystem and promoting, advising, mentoring, and investing in startup ecosystems across the world. In a 2017 article about Beirut's tech scene, tech journalist Monty Munford said Karam is "probably the most influential tech person across the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region."{{Cite web|title=From bombs to bytes: How Beirut's tech scene is thriving|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38663134 |website=BBC |date=2017-01-20 }}
Early career and activism
Karam created Blogging Beirut, a citizens' photojournalism website, in 2004. During the 2006 Lebanon War, it became one of the most visited blogs in Lebanon. In 2007, he founded his first tech company, Wunbox,{{Cite web|title=Livetwitting: un homme, trois start-up|url=https://www.lecommercedulevant.com/article/17057-livetwitting-un-homme-trois-start-up |website=Le Commerce du Levant |date=2010-04-01 }} with a concept similar to Google Wave. He also started a couple of businesses based on Twitter.{{Cite web|title=Building a career on the web|url=https://gulfnews.com/business/sectors/media/building-a-career-on-the-web-1.660812 |website=Gulf News |date=2010-07-29 }}{{Cite web|title=LiveTweeting, Real-Time Event Coverage With Crowdsourced Translation|url=http://www.startuparabia.com/2009/12/livetweeting-real-time-event-coverage-with-crowdsourced-translation/ |website=Startup Arabia |date=2009-12-09 }} During this period, Karam co-authored scientific papers on community information and location technology.{{Cite web|title=Geographic 'place' and 'community information' preferences|url=https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/geographic-place-and-community-information-preferences|website=University of Minnesota |date=2008-01-01 }}{{Cite web|title=Sharing the big apple: a survey study of people, place and locatability|url=https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1056928|website=ACM Digital Library |date=2005-04-02 }}
With his campaign "Flip the Switch", Karam lobbied the Lebanese minister of communications into tackling the nation's stifling connection speeds. During the Egyptian revolution of 2011, he kept a real-time online register of missing persons.{{Cite web|title=Le who's who de la blogosphère libanaise|url=https://www.lecommercedulevant.com/article/19475-le-whos-who-de-la-blogosphre-libanaise|website=Le Commerce du Levant |date=2011-10-07 }}{{Cite web|title=Google's Wael Ghonim still missing in Egypt; company asks for help|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/02/google-asks-for-the-worlds-help-in-finding-executive-wael-ghonim-missing-in-egypt.html|website=Los Angeles Times |date=2011-02-01 }}{{Cite web|title=Lebanon web suffers from 'world's slowest connection'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-15273510 |website=BBC |date=2011-10-13 }}
Startup initiatives
In 2010, Karam decided he would assist Lebanese early-stage startups. After a few months of running a collective, he realized that the growing startup scene needed a space. Converting a derelict apartment in Hamra into an office and raising $700,000, Karam founded the startup accelerator Seeqnce.{{Cite web|title=From The Heart Of Beirut, Startup Accelerator Seeqnce Plans To Thrive|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/07/05/from-the-heart-of-beirut-startup-accelerator-seeqnce-plans-to-thrive/ |website=Tech Crunch |date=2012-06-05 }} Seeqnce was the first startup accelerator in Lebanon{{Cite web|title=Sky is the Limit for Lebanese Entrepreneurs|url=https://www.fairobserver.com/region/middle_east_north_africa/sky-is-the-limit-for-lebanese-entrepreneurs-31291/ |website=Fair Observer |date=2015-11-26 }} and one of the first in MENA, providing investment, mentoring and offices to each startup. Its first two batches of start-ups raised more than $10 million.
In 2014, Karam turned Seeqnce into Alice, one of the first online accelerators, which was based in London and supported by angel investors. For startups, it offered financial templates, performance metrics, and a global pool of mentors. For investors, it provided a library of startups seeking investment, with financial and business information, investment portfolio management and performance monitoring. Its name was a nod to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as Karam likened creating a startup to going down the rabbit hole.{{Cite web|title=Going Down the Tech Rabbit Hole with Beirut's Alice|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2014/01/20/going-down-the-tech-rabbit-hole-with-beiruts-alice/ |website=The Wall Street Journal |date=2014-01-20 }} At Mobile World Congress' 4YFN conference in Barcelona in 2014, he set up the pavilion featuring 14 leading Arab startups.{{Cite web|title=Middle East tech news: What you need to know from February|url=https://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/03/03/middle-east-tech-news-what-you-need-to-know-from-february/ |website=The Next Web |date=2014-03-03 }}
He was a venture capital advisor of Banque du Liban (BDL, the Central Bank of Lebanon) and was a member of the founding steering committee of BDL's Circular 331 startup fund, worth $600 million. Karam created the Accelerate conference, which was one of the 10 biggest tech conferences in the world in 2016.{{Cite web|title=Steve Wozniak Went To Beirut And Wowed 8,000 People|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/montymunford/2016/12/19/steve-wozniak-went-to-beirut-and-wowed-8000-people/#793962542fcc|website=Forbes |date=2016-12-19 }} Together with Nicolas Sehnaoui, he created Beirut Angels, an initiative to gather Lebanese angel investors.{{Cite web|title=Beirut's Bright Future As A Tech Hub For MENA, If Its Politicians Will Allow It|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/03/beiruts-bright-future-as-a-tech-hub-for-mena-if-its-politicians-will-allow-it/|website=Tech Crunch |date=2015-04-03 }} His initiative Startup Megaphone has promoted the Lebanese startup ecosystem by holding events abroad,{{Cite web|title=Lebanon a gateway to start-ups' success|url=https://www.thenational.ae/business/lebanon-a-gateway-to-start-ups-success-1.86300|website=The National |date=2015-10-10 }} such as Startup Lebanon,{{Cite web|title=La troisième édition de " Startup Lebanon " se tiendra à la Silicon Valley|url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1117536/la-troisieme-edition-de-startup-lebanon-se-tiendra-a-la-silicon-valley.html|website=L'Orient Le Jour |date=2018-05-25 }} and creating national strategies and guides endorsed by BDL, such as Lebanon's Startup Ecosystem Roadmap and Startup Guide Lebanon.{{Cite web|title=Publications|url=http://www.bdl.gov.lb/downloads/index/9/149/Guides-and-Booklets.html|website=Banque du Liban |date= }}
Mike Butcher (journalist), Editor at Large of TechCrunch, noted that "right now I can think of few other people who introduced Lebanon to the international tech community with as much energy, enthusiasm and longevity".