By : Mohamed Helmy – Nahla Makled
Flat6Labs, in partnership with ESLSCA University, has launched a new innovation and entrepreneurship incubation program to empower undergrad students to develop viable and sustainable businesses upon graduation.
The partnership was signed in October this year, marking the commencement of the program for the current semester’s business students. The program is set to provide capacity building for the business undergrads and equipping them with primary knowledge and tools, enabling them to develop competitive products and companies.
Ramez El Serafy, CEO at Flat6Labs, added, “In addition to enhancing entrepreneurship education, this reinvented university acceleration program will be a significant resource not only to the ESLSCA institution, but also to the community at large in innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, and regional technological and economic development.”
The incubation program spans over two phases in an 8-month period. In the first phase, 100 selected students grouped in 25 to 30 startup teams, will be given general entrepreneurship awareness and the basics of design thinking all the way to marketing and customer discovery, and offered multiple services and perks including expert-led training and coaching sessions, workshops, and mentorship by market experts.
This will be followed by dividing the startup teams into two main tracks. The TopX track will consist of 10 startups that will receive intensive entrepreneurial training in order to accelerate their growth within the subsequent 3 months, and the Frontier track, which will allow the remaining 15 to 20 startup teams to further develop their entrepreneurial learning sets and skills. The program will culminate with a showcase event, where startups will pitch their ideas and startups to a panel consisting of ESLSCA and Flat6Labs personnel.
ESLSCA took its first year of undergrad students in Egypt in 2019 and since then they have been offering accelerated, rigorous and innovative programs that allow students to move forward in a successful career. Commenting on the program, Dr. Mohamed El Essawy, BBA Program Director at ESLSCA University said, “We’re very excited to be launching this program with a partner that has such an extensive experience and track record in the entrepreneurial sector, both locally and regionally, such as Flat6Labs.
