August 2017

BUILD / August 2017 5 NEWS , Now it is about to step up to the big leagues with a venture build- ing programme called The Nucleus, sup- ported by The UK Lebanon Tech Hub (UKLTH) a joint initiative from the UK government and Banque du Liban, Lebanon’s Central Bank. How to find these skilled practi- tioners can be a real headache and, unless you are an experi- enced firm with a ready pool of trusted practitioners you can al- ways call on, every new build is a risky step into the unknown – until now. Clients will no longer have to just rely on word-of-mouth to access the expert engineers and architects they need to deliver successful projects. Handiss provides an equalising platform where everyone can capitalise on the skills and quali- fications of the experts to ensure opportunities are realised and the work gets done properly. If you’re looking for engineers and archi- tects to work with on a project or task basis, you will find options, save time and hire the right per- son for your job and budget. Clients have the peace of mind that comes with the guarantee of being able to engage and hire the best available people, the abili- ty to optimise their outsourcing costs and manage everything from the one Handiss platform. Whether you are a commercial firm wanting to build a new su- permarket, real estate developer planning an office block or a pri- vate citizen looking to build their dream home and you’re in the market for consulting and design services, or an independent engi- neer or architect looking for your next job, all these needs are ca- tered for in detail by Handiss. The platform is already populat- ed with projects ready to go plus engineers and architects from all over the world and their speciali- sations span dozens of engineer- ing and architectural disciplines; everything from architecture and interior design to landscaping, ur- ban planning to traffic, road, wa- ter and infrastructure engineering to project management and con- tracts administration. Ramzi Jreidini, Founder of Hand- iss, said: “We connect people in the industry on a project or task basis and not on full-time jobs. This is what makes Handiss unique, as virtually all portals in this market provide full-time em- ployment for companies. “Our main competition is really the status-quo and the paradigm of the market itself. People in the market are not used to the idea of finding freelance engineers and architects using an online plat- form. Most people rely on their own personal connections or a search on LinkedIn to find one or two professionals who can help them out on their project, with all the obvious limitations that en- tails. “While there are other well estab- lished freelancing websites which have a branch of their service that caters for engineering and archi- tecture, they are far from devel- oped enough to cater for all the services in the sector. We have also differentiated ourselves in that we market specifically for the construction market and that we cater our product in many other ways for this sector (such as the pricing system).” N Thanks to being picked as one of seven projects to be tur- bo-charged by The Nucleus, the latest initiative of The UK Leb- anon Tech Hub (UKLTH), this start-up is poised to go global. It is backed by the UK government and the Central Bank of Lebanon for fostering entrepreneurship and research & development in Lebanon. Ramzi Jreidini said: “While we’re quite small now and in our infancy with around 300 signed up engi- neers and architects offering their time and work, the growth oppor- tunity is huge when you look at the market size. The construction market is globally worth over $10 Trillion and is expected to reach $15 Trillion by 2030, according to estimates in a PwC report on the market. This number dwarfs other markets. “The consulting sector (our target within construction) is worth 5% of the total market, so that puts it at around $500 Billion. If Han- diss can take even a fractional percentage of market share in the total value of projects posted on it, it would be in the millions of dollars.” The online process for using Han- diss is designed to be simple, with two sections on the website when signing up, one for the cli- ents (employers) to post their project details and the other for freelancers who want to offer their services. For clients, after their project is posted they will start receiving proposals from the freelancers. A larger scale construction project that is posted on Handiss can have several specialists’ jobs as- sociated with it. This reflects the multi-tiered nature of a construc- tion project where there are many engineers and architects working together. After receiving and eval- uating proposals and then choos- ing the best candidates for their purpose, clients can take advan- tage of Handiss’ escrow payment system that protects both sides of the transaction. All freelancers must do is create a free account, fill in their professional profile and start applying to jobs within their area of expertise. Now Ramzi Jreidini’s ambition of maximising his grasp on a global audience with this concept is be- coming a reality, thanks to being one of the first seven companies chosen from a pool of 176 ap- plicants to benefit from The Nu- cleus programme. The Nucleus start-ups benefit from an invest- ment of US$20,000 in cash and US$30,000 in services, in return for the UKLTH taking up to a 5% equity stake in the business. In-service benefits that entre- preneurs can take advantage of over a 12-week period include further developing their product with an in-house core technolo- gy team and building a business model with C-level executives. During the 12 weeks’ they will also benefit from a host of prac- tical workshops on finance, legal structures, organisational culture, raising capital, pitching, market- ing and sales. Every company will be assigned a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style board, involving top industry experts, relevant academics, media ex- perts and potential buyers. Three monthly board meetings will be held throughout the programme to ensure a business roadmap is set and followed for every start- up. The Nucleus entrepreneurs will also have access to office space, support with Legal and Auditing services for company registra- tions, in addition to HR manage- ment. On product completion, UKLTH will continue to support all the start-ups by helping them tap into their international networks, garner partnerships and help them raise potential investment from investors. Ramzi Jreidini added: “Having only launched in January, we followed with a new set of online features in May and are now plan- ning a marketing strategy to bring our product fully to the global mar- ket. We hope to have this mar- keting strategy developed within The Nucleus programme. New features will be rolled out soon which will enable us to expand to markets outside of Lebanon more easily. The sky’s the limit.”