Daily Times

KARACHI: After the launch of National Incubation Centre (NIC) Islamabad and award of NIC Lahore and NIC Peshawar, the Ignite (formerly National ICT R&D Fund) is all set to establish and manage the National Incubation Centre in Karachi.

Ignite is a national technology fund that focuses on fourth industrial wave tech and on ecosystem development initiatives to fulfil its mission of creating a knowledge based economy in Pakistan.

In this connection, the Ignite, through request for proposal (RFP), has invited proposals from qualified licensed registered legal entities to provide services to establish and manage the National Incubation Centre in Karachi.

Incubatees are usually small, early stage, emerging businesses that have limited interaction with demand side/customers and overall Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) eco system.

The RFP document said the successful bidder will appoint a professional management team (incubator management) to run the operations of the incubator in accordance with its proposal in the winning bid. The incubator management team will be responsible for activities including running the affairs of the National Incubation Centre Karachi, in line with international best practices.

According to the Ignite, the incubator management shall strive to establish linkages especially with the demand side/customers, partners and investors that will maximize the commercialization potential of the final product and reduce time to market. “The incubator management would develop and maintain a pool of domain specialists willing to serve as mentors, advisors and business counsellors for incubatees. These mentors and business counsellors shall be selected based upon their repute and potential to leverage the incubatees’ commercialization potential”.

Successful bidder is required to complete the infrastructure development in maximum 3 months from the effective date of the contract, after which the National Incubation Centre Karachi operations will commence. The tenure of National Incubation Centre Karachi will be 5 years from the date of commencement of National Incubation Centre Karachi operations. The recommended duration allowed for each incubatee is 12 months, extendable to another six 6 months or more on case-to-case basis. After 5 years, the board will decide on further course of action including extension of tenure for incubator management based on continual success against management KPIs.

The RFP document further mentions that management shall also strive to attract venture capitalists, private equity funds and arrange sessions to educate them about the National Incubation Centre Karachi’s incubator activities.

The Karachi incubator management in the first year will have the flexibility to induct incubatees at any time during the first year to achieve ultimate target of a minimum 40 incubatees per year. From the 2nd year thereon, minimum 20 incubatees will be inducted on half-yearly basis. Establishment of an environment to accommodate virtual tenancy up to 10% of the total number of incubatees population. Virtual tenancy may commence after first year of the operations of National Incubation Centre Karachi.

Published in Daily Times, October 26^th 2017.