STAND Up! has selected in Lebanon the 6 textile and fashion start-ups that will receive the services from soft-landing vouchers, after the evaluation done by Berytech. The Lebanese partner has identified these entrepreneurs, from which the vast majority are young and female: Omar Itani (FabricAID), Riham Hijazi (Necess), Patrick Zoghbi (VEA), Aya Hoteit (CIVVIES), Marc Metni (Waste Studio), Gaelle Ghattas (Gaël Ghattas).

The start-ups they founded will have access to a transnational mobility scheme, with the aim of providing their eco-sustainable and circular enterprises with the possibility to access markets in the Mediterranean region. The 6 vouchers are valued up to 4,000€ each, which will give them the chance to explore new business and networking opportunities to connect with local industry players. Besides, they will have the chance to meet stakeholders from the region and participate in events and trade fairs.

• Fabric AID: It tackles textile waste whilst creating dignified shopping experiences for vulnerable communities. The ‘SALAD’ brand within FabricAID tackles damaged or unwanted clothing items. It doesn’t waste any of these textiles and moves them through a range of upcycling initiatives.
• Necess: It’s a local fashion label on a mission to democratise sustainable fashion by creating affordable eco-friendly clothing accessible to everyone. Scientists, designers, and innovators; they’ve come together to create guilt-free fashion that incorporates renewable material into long-lasting pieces in a zero-waste ethical production process.
• VEA Wear: VEA was born from a conscious purpose to contribute to preserving the environment. They are In the business of upcycling inner tire rubber tubes into fashion items: handbags, accessories, jewelry, giveaways, Home deco, Gardening & Landscape Products.
• CIVVIES: It’s a fully sustainable and ethical fashion brand established in 2016 and launched In 2018, aiming at increasing awareness on sustainable fashion providing unique and artistic statement designer garments.
• Waste Studio: It’s a brand business specialized in handcrafting quality bags, accessories and furniture out of advertising banners. Their designers and tailors creatively work on combining reused / recycled materials and fabrics in a sustainable design and manufacturing process.
• Gaël Ghattas: It’s a start-up creating handmade bag straps with very basic materials found at home. Designs include geometric architectural pattersn, holding on to innovation, which resulted in today’s Gaël Ghattas’ world of straps.

The soft-landing voucher schemes will cover flight expenses, material expenses - such as digital services to help ventures boost their visibility or marketing strategy-, per diem expenses covering food, accommodation and transportation and concierge expenses hosting organization’s expertise to support ventures’ growth and conference attendance.

More about the soft-landing voucher scheme opportunity

The selected entrepreneurs will be able to choose the territory where to implement the soft-landing activity and access the local market with their business. The eligible territories where the soft-landing activity should be applied are located in the ENI CBC Med cooperation area.

This activity aims at accelerating job creation and stimulate connection between Southern and Northern Mediterranean through the selection of 20 ventures in total in the 5 project partners, which are: Egypt, Italy, Lebanon, Spain and Tunisia.

STAND Up! is an EU-funded project under the ENI CBC Med Programme which intends to support textile entrepreneurs and eco-innovative ventures in the Mediterranean and help them seize business opportunities that the green evolution will generate.