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By now you’ve probably heard of Tech Incubator’s impressive partnership with Google. On Tuesday, CEO Zohaib Khan created quite a bit of excitement when he announced his nascent startup-incubator received $100,000 (or 55 years’) worth of credit from Google Cloud Platform.
Google Cloud Platform offers a Pandora’s Box of modular cloud-based services, the building blocks to develop anything from simple websites to complex applications, based on the same infrastructure that you use to Google your search queries, watch YouTube videos or store and retrieve your Gmails.
These cloud services provide the perfect runway for Tech Incubator’s web and mobile startups to launch themselves. I caught up with Zohaib recently to ask about his plans for the company and the “Empowering Dreams” motto. A veteran of the Swedish Encubator system, Zohaib believes in “creating a space where everyone’s idea is welcome, where everyone gets hands-on mentorship, from beginning (brainstorming and design) to end (marketing and acquisition).”
To complement this all-welcoming approach, Tech Incubator has come up with a unique business model that sets it apart from other Lahore-based incubators. Like everyone else, Tech Incubator takes equity from the startups it breeds, but rather than acquiring a standard flat amount (say 20%) in all companies, it has developed a three-tiered approach.
If, for example, you approach Tech Incubator with a readymade company and want working space, mentorship, growth and investment from European, American and Pakistani entrepreneurs, they’ll get 10%. If you approach them with a half-made company and require complex technical support and services, they’ll get 25%. And most interestingly, if you feel you don’t have the technical know-how to launch a successful tech company, you can simply email them your big idea and count on full hand-holding concept, brainstorming and design support; for that, you’ll retain 40% of the company, Tech Incubator will receive 30%, and the last 30% will be a reservoir for external investors and employees.
Some of the startups in Tech Incubator are Shotlo (allows you to buy licensed photos online), Intezam (lets you book your event planners online), Haggle (a group-discount marketplace) and Coreqs (an online requirement management tool).
