Tens of teams went through the selection process and the winners have emerged. Eight lucky teams have managed to bag a spot at LCE’s Foundation program. These eight teams will now benefit from the grooming and the facilities that LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship has to offer. During the four months of incubation, the teams will be regularly monitored and encouraged to reach significant milestones that can help them take off their business. They will also meet with industry leaders, get mentored and pitch to high profile investors.
As mentioned earlier, The Foundation is currently offering three different programs that differ in the equity ratio and the facilities available. Read on for the details of the teams selected and the program that they will be choosing.
Teams under the 2.5% Equity Program
Under this plan, the team will get access to mentors at LUMS and will be able to pitch to the investors. The following teams will benefit from this plan for the next four months.
Appography – The Company aims to improve the customer experience by introducing a visual navigation IVR (Interactive Voice Response), in a clutter-free, simplified and more consumable manner on customer smart phones. This particular program is a smart choice for Appography as it allows the startup to get access to mentors and investors. Note that Appography has been a part of Plan9 and has also been selected for the Blackbox Connect Program.
Also See: Blackbox Connect Fall 2014 Applications are Open!
MARO – Oven baked bread (tandoori Roti and Naan) is one of the most commonly consumed food item in Pakistan and MARO aims to setup a network of ‘Tandoors’ that provide healthy bread and an immaculate consumer experience at the same price as traditional ‘Tandoors’. MARO aims to follow the model of ‘Zenith’, a local vendor that sells quality meat products.
Teams under the 5% Equity Program
OneClout – Offers BizClout, a one-stop solution that enables e-commerce SMEs creating their functional web stores. The company also offers value-added products to promote and market these online brands as well.
Teams under the 7.5% Equity Program
Savaree – The Company is building a trust-based, ride share social network that allows drivers to monetize the free passenger seats in their cars by posting routes and connecting with riders that share that route. Read more here.
Cognitica – Develops augmented reality based mobile and marketing solutions. The team hails from Islamabad and comprises of three founders from FAST Islamabad.
Beed – Based on research done at LUMS, this team comprising of LUMS and NUST graduates is working on making all broadcast content interactive with the aid of smart phones.
Bugdev Studios – A team of very passionate mobile game developers and designers that build and publish creative, fun, action-packed games that make people think, feel and enjoy.
PublicEye – Another team from Islamabad working on building a social, location based, awareness platform for active citizens that aims to bring public demand to the forefront of development priorities of administrative departments and corporations.
Facilities for The Foundation Graduates
Aside from the Foundation program, LCE is working on forging alliances with local and international investors and commercial property developers to create Plug ‘N’ Play Centers around LUMS which offer co-working office space to the Foundation graduate startups at subsidized rents. Another interesting feature is The Foundation Fund, an effort to bring the LUMS alumni and other corporate organizations on board for an investment fund. A separate committee will also make equity investments in promising startups.
Yet another venture in the pipeline is The Skills Commercialization Center, an attempt to match skilled workers with talented marketers who can then build a business using the skills these workers can offer. The Foundation has a lot planned and it has a long way to go. With these eight startups, LCE will officially kick-start its incubation. TechJuice team would like to wish the incubator and the incubated teams the very best of luck and we hope this startups achieve great success.
For more details visit Twitter and Facebook profiles of LCE.
