1st startup incubator on a bus. Developing talented entrepreneurs & the next high growth startups.
Business overview
| Location | Shoreditch, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Social media | |
| Website | www.incubuslondon.com |
| Sectors | Finance & Payments Non-Digital B2B |
| Company number | 8600766 |
| Incorporation date | 8 Jul 2013 |
Idea
Introduction
IncuBusLDN is a start-up incubator programme for 18-25 year olds. The programme will be hosted on a traditional London double decker bus.
The programme would run over a 3 or 6 month period, with selected candidates being given the resources, skills and foundation they need to start-up and successfully grow their technology related business.
Our programme is unique as we plan to offer optional 3 month paid experience to our entrepreneurs in some of London's most successful start-ups. These include, Huddle, Enternships, Wobu and signkick. Our programme has been tried and tested with a successful local start-up, having gone onto raise money and be covered in national press publications. We want to raise money to accommodate more start-ups on our programme and offer greater returns for our investors.
For providing resources to our start-ups we've built a network of partners and sponsors including Rackspace and KPMG, a full list can be found in our Accomplishments below.
The bus will help extend IncuBus's current programme and act as a hub for the local community. We would run CodeClubs, events, pop-up shops and host a local food start-up where we'll earn further revenue.
Intended impact
We aim to become the first real link between university students, young people and the established London tech scene.
With youth and graduate unemployment spiraling out of control, we want to offer an opportunity for passionate and talented individuals. After talking with young people, many told us they feel abandoned by current government initiatives and a lack of support. This for many turns into feelings of resentment, leading to the breakdown of social structure which has been well documented in the media. We want to offer a fresh start to these individuals who have the raw talent, ambition and commitment to start and grow a successful company. We want to stop the vicious cycle of wasted generations and be a power for good.
University and rising education costs are enticing students to look at other alternatives and IncuBus is perfectly positioned to help. IncuBus is planning to form partnerships with technology hubs at the University of Oxford, University of Kent and City University.
IncuBus is working with codeclub.org to encourage our technical founders to give back and mentor young and inexperienced coders after school. This is an important step in building a community of support around the project.
Through surrounding ourselves with talented and established individuals, we give our start-ups the best networks, resources and platform to build the next generation of high growth companies.
Substantial accomplishments to date
Through hustling and luck we have secured a bus for renovation and have run our programme in 2013 with a succesful UK startup.
Hive - justhive.me -Enterprise collaboration app - Winners of the Cisco Challenge.
IncubusLDN has built strong relationships with key partners who will support the programme, offering mentorship, advice and introductions.
EE - 4G Technology Sponsor.
Oxygen Accelerator - Talent referrals for IncuBus alumni.
Rackspace - Free hosting for start-up/ free technical consulting. Financial sponsorship of events.
Yumbuns - A great revenue source. Partnering with an award winning food popup to share our space in Redmarket, a popular destination in the heart of Shoreditch.
Monetisation strategy
Monthly Fee (£300) per founder per month which includes full programme, access to network resources and use of the co-working space on the bus.
Equity stake in chosen start-ups (Average 5-10%). We are very selective in our application process. We expect to develop start-ups into high growth companies, providing good yields on our initial investment of time, resources and networking. The benefit for our Seedrs investors is they will be indirectly investing in the success of these start-ups too.
Partner with YumBuns - Revenue share with award winning, successful food pop-up.
Advertising on interior and exterior of bus.
Event space hire and sponsorship of events held in the community space on the bus.
Co-working desk space hire - We have found there is a drastic shortage of space in the Shoreditch tech scene.
A previous renovation that we are considering incorporating into our own design:
Use of proceeds
Funding programme for new cohort (6 months), including costs associated with;
- Set up costs for IncuBusLDN events
- Initial costs of rent, utilities such as water and electricity
- Having the office space on the bus renovated for a June launch
Market
Target market
IncuBusLDN Programme.
The programme will focus on 18-25 year olds.
18-25 year olds - 67 percent of founders of large $500 million companies were younger than 30.
http://gigaom.com/2011/05/23/young-experienced-...
Technology has lowered barriers to entry for young entrepreneurs and enabled them to build in-demand services, cheaply and quickly. IncuBusLDN's programme focuses on lean startup methodologies, incorporating a bootstrapped business model before companies receive enough traction to warrant investment rounds.
Talented young people looking for an alternative to University - More than 27,000 undergraduates dropped out of university last year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationn...
As IncuBusLDN expands, as well as potential support via Government schemes, IncubusLDN will work with Universities (some of which are partnered already) to discover the best talent and offer opportunities in our teams for both drop-outs and graduates alike.
Not in education, employment or training (NEETs) - 1.09 million young people in the UK http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/young-people-...
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Revenue share with Yumbuns food popup - http://yumbun.co.uk/
Redmarket street market in London - High footfall in Spring and Summer months. With large offices and workplaces nearby, Redmarket receives a high turnover of customers during lunchtime and evenings. This should be a fantastic revenue source for us.
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Co-working space and events
300+ meetup groups in and around London requiring cool spaces to host events. We have found there is a high demand as current spaces in Shoreditch are too small, expensive or booked up months in advance.
Characteristics of target market
"More than 440,000 young people are facing long-term unemployment, and it is these young people that urgently need our help." - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25559089
These young people are looking to start new businesses as a way to avoid unemployment. The start-up loans scheme has enabled this to happen on a scale never before seen. These founders, with no other opportunities are highly passionate, skilled and have a determined attitude. These kind of characteristics IncuBusLDN is looking to find and combine with the best ideas, resources and mentoring we can offer.
Our market is young and experienced in the demands of consumer internet services, being the target market for these services themselves. Consumer internet can be a hugely profitable industry for investors, with large acquisitions frequent. By working with these young people, we should have an advantage to build the next generation of these services. Examples include, WhatsApp, SnapChat and Instagram.
Marketing strategy
Sponsors and partners - These established and experienced companies attract talent looking to work and learn from them.
F6S and Angellist - Angellist and F6S are the most popular platforms where start-ups look for mentoring, advice and funding. IncuBus is registered as an incubator on both platforms, allowing us receive applications from start-ups. We feel that our listed board of advisors on Angellist will attract the best founders.
Local start-up community and Flagons Den - With approximately 1,000 members, Flagons Den is a fantastic way to discover talented founders breaking into the start-up scene. Our integration with the local community offers great word of mouth potential.
Press - Hosting the programme on a bus has attracted lots of attention and we are keen to capitalise on the press opportunities.
University partnerships - With our partnerships at the University of Kent, Kings College, City University and UCL, we are already receiving applications from talented students with excellent ideas.
Redmarket Location - To make the most of hosting pop-up shops and food stalls, we have secured space in Redmarket. Redmarket is a high footfall location which caters for local companies in the surrounding area who visit every lunchtime and evening.
Competition strategy
Founders passion and experience Rishi ran a media company, YHP, where they interview entrepreneurs around the UK and built a large following of aspiring individuals across the country. Previously Rishi has worked at one of the UK's fastest growing startups, Huddle as part of the marketing team and ran two businesses at university, one which successfully exited and one which failed but provided lots of experience in the startup world.
George was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 at Kent University and used to intern at Goldman Sachs. He started his own EdTech revision product called Memory Juice which entered the Global Business Competition in the US. George has worked at Huddle as an engineer where he met Rishi and they both host and mentor founders through the Flagons Den meet up, containing 1000+ members.
Community first - Through hosting flagons den and other initiatives, George and Rishi have integrated the IncuBusLDN programme with the community. This support will keep the programme running through any bumps in the road.
3 month placements - Our 3 month placements in local start-ups offer our founders to learn from the best start-ups. As over 60% of start-ups fail due to founders disputes, it's important founders understand how to work together in a stressful start-up situation.
Bus and PR - The programme is the essence of IncuBusLDN but hosting our next cohort on a bus offers great opportunities to get PR and find the attention of the best start-ups.
Alumni Network - We are only as good as our mentors, networks and Alumni. We plan to grow this network month by month so when start-ups leave the programme, they receive all the wisdom of other's experiences. The personal touch from George and Rishi will mean start-ups always have a point of contact with the programme if they seek extra guidance.
Age group focus - Our specific focus on the 18-25 age group allows us to become immersed and confident in supporting founders at this stage.
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