Business Incubator of the West Kazakhstan Agrarian-Technical University named after Zhangir khan “West Startup Incubator” on September 8, 2023 held Demo day of the 1st gratuitous business incubation program, conducted within the grant agreement with JSC “National Agency for Development of Innovations “QazInnovations”!
Within the framework of the grant implementation on a gratuitous basis training on business incubation of startups and preparation of projects for their further participation in competitions for commercialization of technologies with the issuance of certificates was conducted.
Certificate on business incubation of projects provides an opportunity to participate in the competition from JSC “Qazinnovation” for commercialization of technologies, the amount of the grant is up to 20 million tenge.
The training was aimed at preparation of startup projects, packaging and further promotion in the market. Experts are highly professional specialists-mentors with practical experience in promotion and commercialization of business projects.
The training included the following training modules: identification of the product market niche and potential target audience; development of the business model of projects; building a financial model of the project; protection, defense and rational use of intellectual property objects; preparation of projects for presentation to potential business partners and others.
Within the Demo Day, a dialogue platform was organized, namely the Exhibition and Presentation of innovative projects and startups. The participants of the business incubation program presented startup projects in various economic spheres (agriculture, processing industry, construction, engineering, IT, etc.).
Based on the results of the business incubation program, the business incubator participants were able to:
– improve the idea of their innovative project or startup;
– receive consultations from experts and experienced entrepreneurs;
– work with an individual tracker;
– form a clear vision of their startup;
– staff a team;
– attract the first investments;
– find a community of like-minded people!
The Demo Day was attended by representatives of enterprises and organizations of the city, as well as experts from various industries.
At this event, potential business partners and/or investors were able to personally meet with developers and discuss the terms of mutually beneficial cooperation and joint activities, including participation in competitions for grant funding of commercialization projects.
Many of the demo-day participants’ projects have gone a long and difficult way – from curious ideas to real business proposals with elaborated hypotheses, identified audience and development plan. In the process, participants learned not only from their own experience. Master classes and consultations of expert business coaches became a good help in improving projects and preparing the final pitch deck.
The demo day was attended by experts and specialists from various industries, as well as representatives of local authorities, universities and colleges of the city.
Potential investors Andrey Evgenyevich Loktev (SoftLance LLP) and Roza Melsovna Umurzakova (Uralsk Botanical Garden LLP) noted the technological strength of the startups and gave their recommendations after the presentations by the founders of the innovative project teams.
There was much to discuss at the demo day: all projects, from the development of the Career Center platform, water-saving facilities to the creation of a workshop for the production of fruit and vegetable seasonings and spices, as well as a plantation of fast-growing wood, turned out to be well-developed and completely different from each other. The experts singled out three projects: ceramic aggregate production technology, aquafeed and bio-waste feed production, recommending their authors to make test sales. They also noted the high concentration of interesting ideas and knowledge-intensive startups and wished to invest more energy and time and shift the focus to the transition of innovative projects to the business level.
In general, the Demo Day had a cool atmosphere of innovation, useful networking and exchange of experience!
