Beyond incubation

Universities need to prepare students for careers they define for themselves as against the orthodox model of careers defined by their academics. Business Development Incubators play an important part in harnessing opportunities for venture capital investment, which in turn mobilize the growth of entrepreneurial ventures. Professor Dr. Khalid Mehommod Iraqi, Acting Vice Chancellor, University of Karachi was interviewd by Money Matters in this very context about the Karachi University Business Incubation Centre.

What is the need and importance of Business Development Incubators at HEIs?

In the current era, higher education institutions are considered to be more accountable for economic development. Somehow, they are directly contributing to it by indulging themselves in “third mission” activities. These activities include developing knowledge transfer partnerships, knowledge commercialization, introducing entrepreneurship courses, and the incubation of start-up firms.

In my view, it is immensely important to have business incubators at higher education institutions as these institutions are a source of resources, knowledge, research, and innovation-driven centers. The management or affiliation of business incubators within a university shows a great advantage for the entrepreneurs, as these institutions can provide associations to the government entities, industries, and societies.

What is your vision and what difference do you think Karachi University Business Incubation Centre will make?

Being a Pakistani citizen, I want this country to be economically sound and safe. But unfortunately, half of our target population lives below the poverty line, and we are in dire need to find out those ways that lift these people out from it. The one way suggested by the world-leading countries to get out of it and become a wealthy country is the encouragement of local ventures. So, I think that KUBIC provides such a platform that encourages new talent to start their venture, eventually helping the country improve its growth.

What research mechanisms do Pakistani HEIs have in place to identify the needs and gaps for specific startups?

As you know, a new project is designed to address and resolve consumer problems or challenges. So before launching, it is necessary to conduct a groundbreaking feedback session to highlight the startup's basic needs and gaps.

How do you plan to identify what startups would make to the initial pool of KUBIC?

For the successful development of incubators, we first identify the different types of startups, their characteristics, and models. We categorized them based on motivation for setting up the startups, its potential growth, and the sphere of influence and expertise. Based on this, we make the initial pool of KUBIC. We are already offering entrepreneurship courses. In the upcoming year, we are also planning to launch a degree program related to it.

What specific measures are you taking to ensure female participation?

At first, we should recognize that women's participation is important for our future and sustainable development. Even then, the females' lack of participation has been seen. It might be due to their social roles, colonialism, lack of education, or no acknowledgment from the society of their dual roles.

To encourage them, we are planning to initiate programs related to business-specific training. Along with this, we are also designing training relating to management skills; as all such programs will increase the female capacity to do business. Moreover, we are also planning to support them financially by introducing loans or grants to help them start their ventures.

How do you see KUBIC providing conditions, facilities and talent to foster emergence of breakthrough ideas?

Karachi University is a well-reputed organization. Its incubation center is considered to be the country's largest incubation center with well-equipped technologies that meet the international standards. We have well-trained staff as well as industrial linkages that will help in promoting startup nationally. We are currently working on 10 startups, and we expect this figure to reach 50 in the next three years. And , we believe in teamwork. Definitely, in upcoming years we will collaborate with local and international universities.

We will be considering Campbell, Kendrick & Samuelson’s incubation model given in 1985 as this model is designed to provide us our desired aims. It allows us a supportive environment that is compatible with the eco-system.

What intellectual property policy do you intend to put in place for encouraging participation in KUBIC?

Developing an intellectual property policy is important at the early development of startups as it will ensure its security. What we are planning to do is that we will evaluate each startup and decide the types of the intellectual property accordingly. In addition to this, our premium goal would be to peruse any copyright, trademark, and patents under the designed policy.

What assistance do you need from the government for university based start-ups?

From the government, I want them to support such startups by easing the legalization process. In addition to this, it is also requested that the government should create an environment where it is relatively easy to obtain financial support, such as through government subsidies or grants. Moreover, the government should also provide funding to universities to support such startups.

How can the business community support KUBIC start-ups?

This question reminds me of an old saying that it takes a whole community to raise a child. Similarly, it’s a responsibility of a whole community to raise a successful startup company that can grow, scale, and contribute to a healthy economy.

The support we want from the business community is an encouragement towards new ventures. They should welcome new startups open-heartedly and should support them by sharing their experiences and advice. They should advise them on improving their growth or solution to the problems they may encounter at the initial level.

The writer is a freelance columnist