Beeleev wants to bring international business to the Midwest

Paris-based Beeleev is expanding its network to the Midwest, and it’s looking for companies that want international connections. Beeleev is a global network for entrepreneurs who are looking to build business partnerships and share resources across borders. Membership in the community includes in-person events, online meetings, and organized group travel expeditions. They have offices in…

beeleev
Thomas Dorwart, an Omaha native, already has 20+ Omaha companies signed up as members. Photo by Molly Misek.

Paris-based Beeleev is expanding its network to the Midwest, and it’s looking for companies that want international connections.

Beeleev is a global network for entrepreneurs who are looking to build business partnerships and share resources across borders. Membership in the community includes in-person events, online meetings, and organized group travel expeditions. They have offices in Paris, New York, Taipei and–most recently–Omaha.

Thomas Dorwart is the Vice President of Beeleev Omaha, and he is currently looking for entrepreneurs to join the Beeleev network. SPN sat down with Thomas this week at the Exchange Building in downtown Omaha.

SPN: So how did Beeleev get interested in opening an office in Omaha?

TD: Well, as for me, I’m from here, and my family is here. I always talk up Omaha when I’ve been in [Paris and New York] to recruit to here.

Beeleev wants to eventually have six regional offices in the US; Omaha will serve as the Midwest hub. There’s a New York office right now. We are in 190 countries right now with 3,000 entrepreneurs. We want to get to 10,000 in 2016. We’ve got a bunch of corporate sponsors in France, and their mission is cross-border growth.

We’re here on the ground to be a resource for entrepreneurs looking to expand to Paris or London or wherever. I’m here to help them through that process.

SPN: What’s the best example of the value Beeleev provides to startups?

TD: We’ve helped a Canadian startup expand to Taiwan. It’s a good platform for entrepreneurs to connect with other entrepreneurs who are potential clients or resources. Particularly here, we’re looking to help startups make contacts in France so they can expand there. We have 20 members in Omaha right now, and we’ve put them in touch with companies like BNP Paribas, the French bank, one of our corporate partners in France. We have the resources through our partnerships to set up those meetings.

We also do expeditions where we’ve brought 20 entrepreneurs from France to New York, to bring together local and international members so they can meet with VCs and corporate partners. The next step is to bring entrepreneurs to Omaha. My goal is to bring business to Omaha. And then vice versa, to bring as many entrepreneurs from Omaha (and probably New York, too) to Paris.

SPN: What particular industries are you interested in?

TD: Tech-based, ecommerce, software, data analysis, that sort of thing. We might have our first French startup interested in coming to Omaha. It’s a fashion brand. It’s all ecommerce right now. He wants to get into the US market, somewhere that it would be easy to ship from or get flights to either coast.

SPN: How is Beeleev funded? Is there an annual membership?

TD: We had an initial small round of funding, then we have 12 corporate sponsors in France. On the site, members can interact with anyone they want to on the site–that’s free. There’s no subscription. Then they pay a la carte as they request specific things. So, for example, you can buy a package for a certain number of meetings. Say you want to connect with corporate partners in Asia, we would do the background work to coordinate that and set up the meetings. You pay for a package of,say, 10 meetings that can you can use over the course of 6 months.

SPN: How do you compare entrepreneurs in Paris to the Midwest?

TD: It’s a really vibrant startup community in Paris. They’re really interested in expanding to places like Omaha. There’s actually a really strong French startup community in New York as well, and they are very interested in coming here.

We’re looking for anyone who’s interested in expanding their business. It doesn’t just have to be cross-border, it can also be across the US, if startups here are looking to get more clients in New York. When we bring French entrepreneurs here, [local members] can be hosting the event with us. I’m originally from Omaha, and I hope people see us not as outsiders but as people they can collaborate with.

The outside perception of Omaha, when I talk to people in New York or Paris, is really cool. They’ve seen the articles about Omaha and what a great place it is. We don’t have to underestimate ourselves.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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