Paul Barakat Diab and Elie Nahas. Try to memorize these names because they are definitely worth it! As proof, the 50,000 US dollars prize the two friends won at the "2019 Supernova Challenge". This annual competition, held early May 2019 at the Dubai World Trade Center during AI Everything, is the world’s third largest start-up fund competition.
Success was not in the bag given the fierce competitors Diab and Nahas had to face; 60 other start-ups from around the world were indeed in the race, but they did it!

Let's rewind the movie from the start. The story begins on 2016 when the two friends realized, while studying together for their exams, that they did not understand their teachings the same way. There was definitely room for a new software that would offer customized learning based on the needs, the level, and the pace of each student. Augmental Education was born!

The small business, which lifted high the name of Lebanon and the Antonine University in the United Arab Emirates, already did the buzz a few years earlier. The Lebanese French-speaking newspaper, L'Orient-le Jour, had indeed written an article about them on February 2017. At the time, the software was in its testing phase, but had already caught the attention of technologies experts and the media since Augmental Education had been selected, among a hundred other start-ups around the world, to be part of the "Bank of Lebanon Accelerate 2016" conference.

Today, this educational tool – which is a kind of 21st century virtual Montessori Method – is now part of the daily lives of 12- to 18-year-old students from several Lebanese schools. It is said to improve by 30% their learning capacity. Diab and Nahas hope one day to see it in public schools and universities. The whopping prize amount they earned will certainly help them achieve their goals by allowing them to fine-tune their product. Who knows, maybe one day it will be an international reference in the world of education?