LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship, was recently inaugurated by Syed Babar Ali, Razzak Dawood and Shahid Hussain. At inauguration day, 11 startups pitched to the esteemed judges and after a lot of scrutiny of their business plan as well as personal assessment of all the team members involved in the startup, 4 startups were selected. These include Appography, Bugdev Studios, Cognitica and Savaree. However, if you are a startup with a lot of potential but couldn’t make it to the launchpad, there is some very good news. Under the program 6 startups are to be selected. Currently, only 4 teams have been awarded a place in the incubation center and yes you guessed it right, 2 coveted slots for incubation/acceleration are up for grab! Think you are the talented startup that LUMS is looking for? Read on!
The Foundation Program is 4-month long incubation and acceleration cycle, depending on the plan that you pick. The first batch is expected to start from June 2nd. At LCE, they will be provided top class facilities and access to mentoring and expert guidance. The startups will be selected from all over Pakistan and their merits and capabilities will be judged by The Foundation Council.
Foundation will focus on developing the startups that are selected, giving them the opportunity to pitch to investors at the end of the program. The Foundation recently revealed its incubation/acceleration plans to the public which will allow you to choose the program that suits your business the best. Apart from traditional incubation, young companies can also benefit from the non-resident acceleration program where they can attend mentoring sessions and get access to potential investors. The Foundation features different programs where the startups will have to pay via equity in their businesses to use facilities available, a plan that is also followed by UET’s TICK. The features available in different programs are listed below.
If you are a struggling entrepreneur and believe you have what it takes to become one of the top startups of Pakistan, there is no time better than the present to apply for incubation or acceleration. The choice of program should depend on the facilities that you are looking for and the needs of your business. This year, we have seen at least 3 new additions to Pakistani incubators. In the recent Digital Youth Summit held at Peshawar, government officials also hinted at helping Universities develop more incubators.
