Launch X: LAU’s AI-Powered Startup Incubator
What is Launch X?
Launch X is LAU’s new single-semester, 3-credit, fast-track incubator program designed to take students from idea to AI-powered startup. Open to students from all disciplines, this hands-on program blends creativity, business, and artificial intelligence to help you launch real ventures under the mentorship of Dr. Evan Fakhoury and a lineup of expert mentors, advisors, and industry experts.
Objectives & Learning Outcomes
- Cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and learn how to identify meaningful problems.
- Apply practical AI tools to create smarter, faster, more scalable solutions.
- Prototype and pitch a real startup by the end of the semester.
- Gain hands-on experience with teamwork, market validation, storytelling, and investor pitching.
Program Highlights
- 3-credit incubator course (open to all LAU students)
- Weekly workshops in startup design, lean validation, AI integration, MVP building, and branding
- Real-world mentorship from startup founders, AI developers, and business experts
- Pitch Day finale to showcase startups to faculty, industry leaders, and potential investors
- Direct pipeline to LAU’s Spark startup competition for top-performing teams
Startup Spotlight: Meet the Teams
Here’s what current Launch X students have just finished building. These startups were built from scratch by students just like you during last year’s Launch X program:
- Soffa – A network of parking lots in Lebanon, check parking spot availability in real-time using ML, reserve and pay for parking online in advance.
- Optimised – F&B SaaS platform that uses AI to calculate, estimate, and predict real-time consumption to reduce waste and save money.
- Level – AI sports psychologist for athletes that develop anxiety, stage freight, and confidence issues suring high performance environments. You own on-demand sports and mental health psychologist for scheduled sessions, pre-game, post-game, and everything in between.
- MediMuse – AI legal assistant that specializes in Lebanese law and judicial system. This app can advise on uploaded contracts, it can generate contracts from templates, and it can connect users with a “mokhtar” or a lawyer on a case-by-case basis.
- AI Advisor – AI-powered academic planning and schedule building for students, built into university portals. Faculty portal also AI-powered, faculty no longer need to click and approve students one by one.
- Snoubago – Building a new device that makes pine picking in Lebanon easier, safer, faster, and more economically viable.
What to Expect (Sample Weekly Breakdown)
| Week | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1 | Team formation + AI, ML, business, marketing, ideation crash courses |
| 2–3 | Problem discovery + idea validation |
| 4–6 | Business model, competitor mapping, and user interviews |
| 7–9 | MVP building using AI tools (code & no-code) |
| 10–11 | Pitch training, branding, and storytelling |
| 12–14 | Final prototyping + Demo Day pitch showcase |
Who Can Apply?
- Students from any LAU major: Engineering, Computer Science, Psychology, Business, Design, Humanities, and more
- Future entrepreneurs in the making
- Creators, thinkers, dreamers, and doers
- Anyone with a big idea, or no idea but a lot of curiosity
- No prior business or AI knowledge required. We’ll teach you everything you need
Team Leader