UIncept Accelerator
Background
UIncept, started as Udgam in 2015, is a startup accelerator and incubator based out of Gurgaon, running structured startup business growth programs.
Challenges
Increasing competition with over 100 registered incubators and accelerators working in the country claiming to help startups.
The ecosystem is not evolved enough to understand how startups in the new age need to
Raise Funds
Learn to manage funds
Build a scalable business
Finding a niche for UIncept to exist in the competitive landscape where funding is given importance over building a sustainable business.
Creating a need: We emphasised the importance of having a network of mentors and startups sharing resources, knowledge and learning from mistakes
Communicating the USP: We began by highlighting the quality of mentors at UIncept which was the brand’s biggest point of difference. What also made the brand unique was the physical infrastructure it offered at their HQ (with over 150 workstations, 2 theatres, meeting rooms and ideation labs)
Launchpad for startups: We positioned the brand as an initial launchpad for startups, helping them save money required to get an office and all the headache that comes along
Downplaying investment: In our research, we found that most of the accelerators were just pushing the idea of getting funded right at the start. Most of the startups also looked at this while considering to enrol in a program. We focused on the process of getting funded and what made us different from the competition, reaching out to startups that understood the value of working closely with the mentors
In-line with our approach, we worked on the brand brochure to be sent out to potential stakeholders (Investors, Startups and Mentors)
The Pitch
While UIncept was going to host startups pitching to them through the year, we asked ourselves what was their pitch?
Here’s the value proposition we defined:
UIncept is a starting ground of ideas and leaders that can transform the world. After 5 years of working with more than 40 startups (mostly EdTech) who have raised over ₹ 50 crores, we have learnt about the various challenges faced by early-stage startups. We’re here to help you grow through our network of mentors, investors and supporting infrastructure.
Business
While UIncept wanted to incubate as well as accelerate startups, we realised that the applicants did not understand the difference between the two while applying.
There were good growth stage startups applying for the Incubation Program and some amazing idea-stage startups applying for the acceleration program.
We discussed this with the client and arrived at a new opportunity for the brand, helping them pivot. Instead of being an incubator and an accelerator, they had to position themselves as an accelerator and divide startups according to their growth stage.
Another learning we had during our first round of applications was that applications were coming in from all domains while the set of empanelled mentors UIncept had were from the EdTech domain. That’s when we asked the client to narrow down their focus towards building prowess specifically in the Edtech domain.
Not just strategy but a great deal of art too
In addition to creating the brand’s outreach and induction decks, we also designed thematic digital art at the HQ in Gurgaon.
The digital art was aimed to symbolically show the journey of a startup entrepreneur—the hustle, the thrill and the spirit to never give up.
After defining the new positioning, we also worked on lead generation for startups in the EdTech space through social media.
For the Acceleration Batch 2019, our social media campaign generated close to 400 leads
Work in Progress Series // Quick videos with mentors
The idea behind these quick short videos was to highlight the humans behind successful startups. We named the series Work in Progress as we wanted these entrepreneurs to talk about how they continue to upgrade, learn newer things and keep setting newer goals in their pursuit to grow. Here are two such videos with Raghav Verma (Co-founder, Chaayos) and Ankur Warikoo (Founder, Nearbuy).
