DotZero, Pakistan’s largest and the only privately funded incubator launches DotZero Ventures, an angel investment platform for early age startups. The fund has already invested in 6 companies and is now exploring more investment opportunities in startups that are in pre-revenue and early revenue phases.
What Are the Requirements?
While DotZero Ventures isn’t setting all requirements in stone just yet due to entrepreneurship being in the nascent phases in Pakistan, there are three major considerations for startups to be eligible for funding.
01. Young startups: Early stage startups that have proven their products or services have mass appeal through pilots.
02. Key Focus Areas: The focus areas for startups that’ll be funded are Fashion/Retail, E-commerce/Internet and Technology.
03. Location: Preferably located in Karachi to get hands-on training and mentorship. However, DotZero Ventures is open to working with startups across Pakistan. 2 startups in their current portfolio are located outside the port city.
How to apply?
DotZero Ventures is looking for early stage companies that have developed pilot or protoptype to demostrate how their idea can produce a mass effect. The platform is looking for investment opportunities in fashion and retail, e-commerce, and internet and technology.
The investment process is stretched over a couple of weeks where startup founders are validated and their product/ service is tried by the investors. The startups will be analyzed on how ready they are to accept feedback and mentorship, co-exist as a portfolio company and most importantly how passionate they are about the venture. The process from here jumps to how much funds are required for the seed round and whether equity split and board control is mutually acceptable to all the parties involved. Once a consensus has been reached, it will take around four weeks to transfer the funds in the company’s account.
The post-investment phase comes with a lot of perks. The companies can utilize the shared office space at the DotZero and have access to their services team that includes lawyers, chartered accountants, and IT professionals. Once the startup initiates their action plan, DotZero is going to provide them a network of vendors, investors, partners and most importantly, customers.
Once You’re Selected:
Founding a startup is a hectic process. Founders and teams juggle a bazillion tasks and responsibilities at the same time. DotZero aims to take away the peripherals so the startup can focus on their products and services.
This involves the use of shared office workspaces, access to legal, accounting and IT professionals as well as access to a network of vendors, partners, customers and investors.
DotZero Ventures has struck a deal with The Founder Institute(FI), where the top graduates will receive a pre-seed convertible note investment amount of $20,000. DotZero is also partnering with some of the key stake holders in Pakistan’s entrepreneurship sector to identify most promising startups for investment.
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