Validation & Experimentation Consultant – ACT SMART INNOVATION HUB STARTUPS

Berytech is a leading organization in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Lebanon, aiming to provide a conducive environment for the creation and development of startups through incubation, business support, counseling, funding, networking, and company hosting. Through its programs, Berytech contributes to economic revival, sustainable job creation, innovation development, and the retention of highly skilled talent in Lebanon.

Through the Accelerator Program, startups receive support to validate and refine their solutions, test their assumptions with real users and stakeholders, strengthen their business foundations, and prepare for sustainable growth and commercialization.

The Accelerator Program supports early-stage cleantech startups that share three common characteristics:

1. A scientific or technology-based innovative solutions across the agrifood value chain and the clean-tech sector.
2. The potential to scale beyond the local market.
3. The potential to contribute to sustainable economic development and job creation.

The Validation & Experimentation sprint aims to help startups identify their critical assumptions, validate them through structured experimentation and customer discovery, and establish a clear roadmap for the acceleration phase.

The Agrytech & Clyntech Accelerator Program seeks a Validation & Experimentation Sprint Consultant to design and facilitate an intensive, in-person 3 consecutive days, hands-on sprint for up to 12–15 cleantech and agrifood tech startups at MVP and/or prototype stage. This will be achieved by guiding startups through design thinking methodologies, while also helping them gain a clear understanding of their business objectives, target customers, and competitive landscape.

The consultant’s role is focused on helping startups:

• • Stress-test their assumptions,
  • Better understand their users, stakeholders, and market realities,
  • Design structured validation experiments,
  • Refine their value proposition and validation priorities,
  • And establish a practical roadmap for the acceleration phase.

The sprint should emphasize:

• • experimentation over theory,
  • evidence over assumptions,
  • and prioritization over excessive framework completion.

The selected consultant will be responsible for facilitating the following components:

1. Validation & Experimentation Sprint (3 Days)

The sprint will combine interactive workshops, team exercises, experimentation planning, and startup working sessions.

By introducing the design thinking mindset, methodologies and tools, the sprint should help startups:

• • identify critical business and product assumptions,
  • understand user behavior and stakeholder dynamics,
  • map validation priorities,
  • develop practical experimentation plans,
  • and align internally as teams before entering the acceleration phase.

The sprint is expected to include a mix of:

• • short practical inputs,
  • collaborative exercises,
  • peer discussions,
  • startup working sessions,
  • reflection activities,
  • and facilitator/team check-ins.

The sprint is expected to cover the following areas: Key Areas of Focus

1. Problem & Stakeholder Validation
   • Intro to design thinking and the experimentation mindset.
   • Understanding the problem space and ecosystem context.
   • Stakeholder mapping (users, buyers, regulators, municipalities, industry actors, partners, etc.).
   • Mapping behavioral drivers and adoption barriers.
   • Identifying key assumptions and unknowns.

    

2. User Understanding & Customer Discovery
   • Research planning and validation methods.
   • Customer interviews and observation techniques.
   • Identifying meaningful evidence vs assumptions.
   • Prioritizing learning objectives.

    

3. Experimentation & Validation Design
   • Translating assumptions into testable hypotheses.
   • Designing practical experiments and validation activities.
   • Defining success metrics and learning indicators.
   • Building experimentation roadmaps.

    

4. Solution & Value Proposition Refinement
   • Refining the startup’s value proposition and positioning.
   • Aligning solution design with user and market insights.
   • Identifying gaps between perceived and actual value.

    

5. Validation Planning & Accelerator Readiness
   • Structuring short-term validation priorities.
   • Clarifying next steps for the acceleration phase.

    

Defining startup-specific learning and experimentation roadmaps.

2. Return Day Facilitation

Following the sprint, startups will conduct field validation activities over approximately two weeks, including customer interviews, prototype testing, stakeholder meetings, and experimentation activities.

The consultant will facilitate one Return Day session focused on:

• • reviewing field validation learnings,
  • challenging assumptions,
  • analyzing evidence gathered,

• • refining validation priorities,
  • and helping startups define their next strategic steps.

The Return Day should emphasize:

• • reflection,
  • evidence-based decision making,
  • peer learning,
  • and roadmap refinement.

The session should include:

2. • startup presentations,
   • peer and facilitator feedback,
   • group discussions,
   • and action planning.
3. Follow-up Support

The consultant will provide:

• • up to one follow-up online session per startup (up to 1 hour each) following the 2 weeks of validation,

focused on:

• • • reviewing experimentation progress,
    • troubleshooting validation challenges, and refining startup priorities and next steps.

Deliverables

• • Design and facilitation of the Validation & Experimentation Sprint (up to 3 full days in-person) for up to 15 startups.
  • Design and facilitation of the Return Day session (1 full day = 6hrs).
  • Delivery of up to 1 online follow-up session per startup (1hour/session for a total of up to 15hours).
  • Sprint agenda and facilitation plan.
  • Workshop presentations, templates, worksheets, and facilitation materials in digital format.
  • Practical startup validation tools and templates such as:
    • stakeholder mapping tools,
    • experimentation trackers,
    • validation roadmaps,
    • interview/research guides,
    • hypothesis design sheets,
    • UVP frameworks,
    • and experimentation planning templates.

• • Validation & Experimentation Roadmap for each startup outlining:
    • critical assumptions,
    • experimentation priorities,
    • validation activities,
    • and recommended next steps for the acceleration phase.
  • Brief final report summarizing:
    • startup engagement,
    • key observations,
    • major validation gaps identified,
    • and recommendations for the accelerator team.

Qualifications

• • Certification or demonstrated expertise in Design Thinking, Human-Centered Design, Lean Startup, Experimentation, Customer Discovery, or related methodologies.
  • Proven experience facilitating hands-on bootcamps, validation sprints, or innovation workshops for startups, SMEs, or entrepreneurship programs.
  • Experience working with early-stage startups, particularly at MVP or prototype stage.
  • Strong understanding of startup validation, experimentation, customer discovery, and product-market fit.
  • Experience supporting startups in sustainability, cleantech, innovation, social innovation, or technology-driven sectors is strongly preferred.
  • Ability to facilitate highly interactive and collaborative sessions.
  • Strong communication, facilitation, and group moderation skills.
  • Strategic thinking combined with practical execution capabilities.
  • Ability to adapt facilitation approaches to startups with different maturity levels and sectors.
  • Fluency in English.

As Attached.