In the aftermath of the tragic Beirut explosion, 7 social-entrepreneurship ventures enrolled in Berytech Lebanon’s “Impact Rise” program have stepped up to use their platforms for initiatives that directly impact people who have lost their homes, safety and businesses. These ventures were being extensively mentored for the past seven months following the MIT VMS methodology by IM Capital’s Confideo VM.

• 3QA – the third sector quality assurance’s team have been working closely with several funds to responds to the blast by conducting and finalizing due diligence assessments on all the NGOs to ensure transparency and effective distribution of aid to all affected areas.

• FabricAID is raising a fund alongside other supportive institutions, dedicated volunteers, and professionals in construction and renovation. Their aim is to help locals renovate their own shops and houses and restore the damage that has happened to their facilities.

• Drawwit is donating to the Lebanese Red Cross and local NGOs the profits coming from all the sales of their mugs, t-shirts, and masks.

• Arcenciel and La Brocante arcenciel are gathering donations for immediate relied to fix damaged homes. They are also gathering damaged furniture to be refurbished.

• The Volunteer Circle have mobilized their platform for the most urgent volunteering opportunities by NGOs working on providing aid for the affected areas by the blast.

• Froz started an initiative through their Instagram channel inciting people to report glass which needs to be picked up from the areas affected by the blast.

• Cezar Projects for rural development are collecting donations to support the affected families from the explosion, through providing packages of rural products prepared by local families.

By their efforts and initiatives after the Beirut blast, these pioneer ventures have showed their ability to bring positive change in their society and become and inspiration for many upcoming social entrepreneurs.