The first cohort of the Sas accelerator program, powered by Google Developers Launchpad program, to conclude next week
The Information Technology Authority (ITA), represented by the Sas Center for Entrepreneurship, has concluded the first cohort of its Sas accelerator program, powered by Google Developers Launchpad program, and will celebrate its completion on September 3rd in Muscat, Oman.
The celebration plan, according to Zawya, includes a demo day along with an investor Roundtable where ITA’s management, investors from inside and outside the country, businessmen and entrepreneurs will be attending.
During the demo day, each startup will give a presentation on the product/service it intends to launch to the audience which includes venture capitalists and other potential investors.
The roundtable meeting will begin with a talk by an international angel investor, Paulo Andez, who has an active portfolio of 14 companies. One of his companies reached 25 million euros in revenues within the first year of operation and was awarded “Best European Angel Investment” in 2012 following his success.
Paulo is also a Board Member of Entrepreneurship Agency DNA Cascais, which supported more than 270 startups in the last decade, and a Board Member of FNABA, the Portuguese Business Angel Federation. Paulo was appointed President Emeritus EBAN, European Business Angel Network, after serving as President until 2014.
The Sas accelerator program aims to boost the growth of tech startups locally, facilitate the transformation from idea stage to implementation stage, and teaches them the technical and investment planning needed to enter the market with an intensive short-term program.
The start-ups in the first cohort passed through three phases that formed the core of the program, starting with the phase one “Explore”. It helped startups further their business, team, product and customers, in addition to setting their target goals for the program. This was achieved through design thinking, Founders’ lab, and Objective Key Results (OKR) workshops.
The second phase “Learn” aimed to help the startups grow their knowledge of practical implementation in terms of technology, marketing, project management, financial and legal matters to further fine tune the development of their business.
In the last phase “Exhibit”, the startups prepared for their investor pitch with the help of experts. By the end of this run, the startups were ready to present their pitch in front of investors. The presentation will take place next Tuesday.
The first cohort ran for ten weeks, and was an intensive business technology-based accelerator program for the seven tech startups selected. The program was facilitated by 40 renowned experienced international Google Developers Launchpad mentors and selected local subject matter experts.