Starting a business is difficult under the best of circumstances. For a Syrian founder rebuilding a life in Amman, Beirut, or a city inside Syria itself, it can also mean navigating unclear registration rules, limited access to credit, and markets that were never built with a displaced entrepreneur in mind. Yet across the region, Syrian founders continue to launch technology platforms, agrifood ventures, and service businesses that create jobs for their own communities and beyond. What usually stands between a good idea and a sustainable business is not talent. It is access to mentors, to seed capital that does not require collateral, and to the structured, hands-on support a business incubation program provides. Since 2011, we have built our Entrepreneurship Program (ENT) around exactly this gap. Through the Startup Roadshow, Disruptors, the Small Business Accelerator, and our Championing Women in Business Leadership project, we have trained over 2,000 entrepreneurs and helped empower more than 600 businesses and startups. This is how business incubation works at Jusoor, and why it matters.
Key insights:
- We have trained over 2,000 entrepreneurs and empowered more than 600 businesses and startups since 2011, mobilizing over $27 million in global support across our four programs.
- Only 14.3% of Syrian entrepreneurs report receiving institutional support, and just 12.4% have worked with a business incubator or accelerator, according to a 2025 ecosystem assessment.
- Our Disruptors project has awarded $22,000 in seed prizes to finalist teams at a single Demo Day, split across three winning startups.
- Our Championing Women in Business Leadership project delivered a 13.71% rise in participants' Investment Readiness Scores, alongside $10,000 pre-seed grants per founder.
- Every incubation track we run, from the Startup Roadshow to Disruptorsfollows the same three-stage model: assess, build, and scale.
Why Business Incubation Matters for Syrian Founders
Across Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, Syrian founders face a consistent set of obstacles that have little to do with ambition and everything to do with structure. In Jordan, a Syrian entrepreneur can typically hold no more than a minority share in a registered company. In Lebanon, unreliable electricity and internet access add real cost to running even a small online business. A 2025 ecosystem assessment led by Berytech and Startup Syria found that only 14.3% of Syrian entrepreneurs had received any form of institutional support, and just 12.4% had worked with a business incubator or accelerator, even though access to finance and incubation programs were the two needs founders raised most often. The International Rescue Committee has reached a similar conclusion, recommending that Jordan and Lebanon simplify business registration and expand entrepreneurship opportunities for displaced communities. Business incubation closes exactly this gap, pairing a founder's technical skill with the mentorship, seed capital, and legal guidance that turn a promising idea into a business that can hire, grow, and outlast its first difficult year.
Inside Our Entrepreneurship Program: From Hackathon to Demo Day
Our flagship Startup Roadshow project has run since 2014, guided by a simple vision: no entrepreneur left behind. The project moves founders through three phases. First, a five-day, in-person Startup Weekend Hackathon, where entrepreneurs receive training and one-on-one mentoring before pitching their ideas. Second, the Jusoor Business Incubator and Virtual Pitch Day, where selected teams receive weekly training on scalability, financial management, and legal structuring. Third, a Demo Day, where finalists pitch to a panel of judges, investors, and accelerators for cash prizes. Our online incubator curriculum is accredited by EFMD Global under its Online Course Certification System (EOCCS), making us the first non-governmental organization to receive this accreditation for a business incubation program. That accreditation means every founder who completes our Entrepreneurship Program leaves with a credential that partners, investors, and accelerators recognize, alongside the practical skills to use it.
Disruptors: Nurturing Tech Startups Into Investable Ventures
For high-potential technology startups, we run Disruptors, a project that takes founders through an in-person bootcamp, an online incubation phase covering market analysis, digital marketing, and fundraising strategy, and one-on-one sessions with industry experts. In a recent cohort, 38 teams were selected for the program, six advanced as finalists, and three went home with seed money prizes totaling $22,000, split into $10,000 for first place, $7,000 for second, and $5,000 for third. The goal is not simply to run a competition. It is to close what many ecosystem experts describe as the biggest gap in the region: a shortage of genuinely investable ventures, meaning they have a validated product, a clear market, and a founder ready to manage growth capital responsibly.
Small Business Accelerator and Scale Beyond: Supporting Growth at Every Stage
Not every founder we support is building the next regional tech platform. Many are running small, steady businesses that need a different kind of help. Our Small Business Accelerator has supported cohorts of 20 Syrian and Jordanian entrepreneurs at a time with training, mentorship, and access to finance and legal registration support, without asking for equity in return. For startups that have already found early traction and are ready to grow, our Scale Beyond program offers a nine-month journey built around three stages: assess, build, and scale, connecting a cohort of 10 Jordan-based startups with investors, corporate partners, and new markets. Scale Beyond is open to Jordanian founders and to Syrian founders based in Jordan, and women-led startups are especially encouraged to apply.
Championing Women in Business Leadership: Closing the Gender Gap
Women founders across the region face a compounding set of barriers, from social expectations around caregiving to a persistent shortage of programs built specifically for them. Our Championing Women in Business Leadership project responds directly to that gap, pairing Syrian women founders with leadership coaching, business infrastructure experts, mentors, and $10,000 pre-seed grants. In one cohort, participants recorded a 41.80% improvement in leadership skills across their focus areas and a 13.71% rise in their Investment Readiness Scores, alongside an 18.52% increase in the number of team members their businesses could financially support. Founders rated their satisfaction with the program at 9.52 out of 10 for expert sessions and 9.74 out of 10 for trainer performance, numbers that reflect what happens when support is built around what women entrepreneurs actually say they need.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is business incubation, and how is it different from acceleration?
Business incubation supports founders at the idea or early stage of a business, offering training, mentorship, and sometimes seed funding to build a viable product and business model. Business acceleration works with startups that already have a product or early market traction and need structured support to scale and raise investment. We run both types of programs, often in sequence, so a founder can move from a first idea to a growth stage business without losing momentum.
Who is eligible for Jusoor's Entrepreneurship Program?
Eligibility varies by project. Most of our programs are open to Syrian founders, and several, including Scale Beyond and the Small Business Accelerator, are also open to host community founders in Jordan and Lebanon. Specific criteria such as business stage, sector, and founder age are published whenever a project opens for applications.
Does Jusoor provide funding, or only training?
Both. Depending on the project, founders can access seed grants, seed prizes, or pre-seed funding alongside mentorship, training, and legal support. Disruptors, for example, awards up to $22,000 in seed prizes, and Championing Women in Business Leadership provides $10,000 pre-seed grants per founder.
Is Jusoor's incubation program accredited?
Yes. Our online incubator curriculum is accredited by EFMD Global under its Online Course Certification System (EOCCS), making Jusoor the first non-governmental organization running a business incubation program to receive this recognition.
Does Jusoor support women entrepreneurs specifically?
Yes, through our Championing Women in Business Leadership project, which offers leadership coaching, mentorship, and pre-seed grants to Syrian women founders working on tech and tech-enabled businesses.
How can I apply or get involved?
Founders can review open projects and eligibility criteria on our Entrepreneurship Program page. Mentors, investors, and supporters who want to help more Syrian founders access incubation can donate directly to fund these projects.
Building What Comes Next
Business incubation cannot remove every barrier a Syrian founder faces, but it can close the ones that matter most: access to mentors, capital, markets, and a credential that opens doors. Over more than a decade, we have watched founders move from a first pitch at a hackathon to a seed-funded, hiring business, and watched women founders step into leadership roles they were once told were out of reach. Since 2025, we have also begun bringing this same model inside Syria itself, as founders there start rebuilding what conflict interrupted. If you are a Syrian founder ready to build, visit our Entrepreneurship Program page to see which project fits your stage. If you want to help more founders get there, you can donate to Jusoor and become part of the bridge.
