Maroun N. Chammas made his first entry into the world of entrepreneurship when he was 12 when he started his own business selling digital watches and electronic calculators.

After completing his studies in engineering and his MBA in the US, he returned to Lebanon and went to work in the family business, the Chammas Group, founded by his grandfather in 1910. Today, he is Vice Chairman and General Manager of MEDCO, President of Phoenicia Oil Company ELFMED and Chammas Trading Contracting and Transportation Company. The Chammas Group deals in imports, exports, storage, trading, marketing, transportation and distribution of petroleum products in the region.

Chammas’ entrepreneurial drive led him and his brother in 1995 to become pioneers on the country’s digital frontier, introducing internet access to Lebanon through their company Data Management now known as IDM, still one of the country’s leading ISPs and content providers.

That led to a number of other technological ventures and to becoming Chairman of Berytech, an ecosystem for Lebanese entrepreneurship, initiated by the Saint Joseph University in 2002. Chammas soon realised that although they had the facilities, the people and the talent, they simply needed the equity money too. Reaching out to banks and major businesses, and investing from his personal funds, Chammas set up Berytech’s first venture capital fund in 2008, worth US$6 million and from which they invested in 15 companies. In 2014, Berytech Fund II with a capital of $51 million was created with funding from Central Bank of Lebanon Circular 331. In 2015, IM Capital, a fully-owned subsidiary of Berytech Foundation, was awarded the management of USAID MENA Investment Initiative program in Lebanon worth $15 million. Since then, Chammas has played an active role in shaping the ecosystem that nurtures and supports Lebanese innovation and entrepreneurship.

He presides over several local and regional associations, including the Association of Petroleum Importing Companies of Lebanon - APIC, the Arab Internet Service Providers Association - ARISPA, and most recently the Lebanese Venture Capital and Private Equity Association - LVCPEA.

He was recently named Top Lebanese Business Leader by Forbes Middle East - a award he dedicated to all the Lebanese entrepreneurs.