Following a successful first acceleration cycle, and with focus on quality rather than quantity, Speed@BDD recruited seven startups for its second acceleration program. During the welcome note of the launch event which took place on April 11 at Junkyard, Mar Mikhael, Sami Abou Saab, Speed@BDD’s CEO, reflected back on the achievements of Batch I startups and shared the acceleration goals for Batch II: “We have set our goals for Batch II very high and the seven selected teams look very promising. We worked very hard using a multi-step recruitment process to make sure we choose the most capable entrepreneurs for this cycle. We fine-tuned our 3-months program to provide the startups with the biggest value and prepare them to follow the trail of Next Automated Robots and RationalPixels to Silicon Valley. Speed@BDD is continuously partnering and working with key players in Lebanon and abroad to create the right environment and channels for the Lebanese startup ecosystem, encouraging local talent to jump on board the entrepreneurship wagon”. The seven new startups were then officially revealed to more than 150 attendees, including investors, key startup ecosystem players, and media representatives. The second acceleration cycle will conclude on July 7 and will be followed by a Demo Day event around mid-July, 2016.