On January 13th, 2023, King’s College Kicked-Off Othāro Incubation Program in collaboration with Rastriya Banijya Bank at Innovation Kitchen with 5 Teams. The Kick-off was carried out to transform their innovative solutions/services into profitable and scalable business ventures by providing the right skill, mindset, tools, and network. Teams from a variety of industries joined this incubation program. Cera Jewel and Cuts and Seams from the fashion industry, EV Guru Pvt Ltd from the EV technology industry, Omnecal from the Urban Mobility and IT industry, and Spashta Nepali from the Artificial Intelligence and IT industry are the teams who have come on board Othāro.
The teams will undergo a 6-month-long incubation program to understand the market where the customers are now, to improve their products/services and make them market ready. The program is designed to provide teams with continuous, immersive learning workshops and coaching, business model iterations, gap-based and need-based mentoring, and sector-specific access to finance, network and investors. Every month, teams will be testing and iterating their product/services in the market to validate their market strategies. A dedicated coach who is a champion in the ecosystem will be assigned to each team to navigate the team’s challenges and needs and follow the team’s progress in the program to provide the needed support and connection. Throughout the program, teams will be continuously working on their products along with the facilitators to gain valuable insights into the business world.
Learning sessions like PopCorn Series are also there monthly to connect teams with entrepreneurs and experts. They will have an in-person roundtable session on a specific topic of interest for the participants. After the teams have developed their business model, organized their legal compliances and financial planning, and managed the impact risk of their product, they will showcase their products and services to access a broader audience on the market day.
To conclude the 6-months incubation journey, teams will participate in a demo day where they will pitch their ideas to various stakeholders from the industry, investors, media and civil society. The high-performing teams will have access to collateral-free loans of up to Rs.10,00,000 through Rastriya Banijya Bank. Thus, the program intends to provide the teams with a business model and business plan by the end of the incubation to support the business to scale and accelerate in the future.
