How Lebanese start-ups like to keep it in the family

How Lebanese start-ups like to keep it in the family

At a time when the economy appears to be falling apart around them, innovative family start-ups are thriving in Lebanon.

Despite the ongoing economic crisis, one of the worst in the country's history, Lebanon is the only country in the Middle East and Africa where more than 50 percent of entrepreneurs with family involvement have produced innovative services or products.

According to The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's 2019-2020 Family Entrepreneurship Report, 57.6 percent of family entrepreneurs and 41 percent of family-established businesses in Lebanon offer innovative products or services, relative to a global average of 41.6 percent and 30.6 percent respectively.

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It defined innovative products and services as those that are new to customers in the market.

The report showed that 77.8 percent of activity in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) in Lebanon involves family members as co-managers and/or as co-owners.

That is the 18th highest among 48 economies worldwide, and the third highest among 11 countries in the Middle East & African region, after Madagascar (95.4 percent) and Israel (80.8 percent).

The TEA takes into account entrepreneurs who are actively engaged in starting a business or