Passage accelerator, the passage of Kish startups

Usually everything is formed first in the capital and then reaches other provinces, often after a while the capital is saturated with that activity. But getting to the islands is a big deal. The passage accelerator formed in the Kish Free Zone is one of the important events in the country’s startup ecosystem. Follow our conversation with the CEO of this accelerator:

Please introduce yourself and tell us how “Gozar” was born?

I am a servant of Pouria Ghadir, the CEO of the Pass Accelerator. I would like to say that I am a student of the PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Science and Technology, and I entered the startup ecosystem almost in 1996. Fonder and Kofander D Startup I was in the field of 3D printers and new materials in the field of civil engineering. In August 1999, we decided together with the late Dr. Shariatmadari and other friends Passage accelerator With the aim of bringing the relationship between academia and industry closer, especially in the field of construction industry, because as you know, since the discussion of startups in Iran, most Accelerators And Investors Looking for startups in the field of e-commerce or IT-based platforms, and there was a huge vacuum in the HardTech industry, my friends and I, who all work in this field, decided to use this accelerator with this To establish the goal, we completed the final works in August 1999 and the accelerator was established at the University of Science and Technology. In January 1999, the second office was opened on Kish Island. Gozar operates in four areas: civil engineering, energy, environment and tourism.

What series were as sideways sponsors?

Passage Accelerator is a completely private accelerator, a private joint stock company formed with the support of the private sector. Organizations helped us in this regard. For example, we have a spiritual connection with the University of Science and Technology, because we were students there and that Dr. Shariatmadari, who was a member of the faculty of the university. But in terms of support, the Innovation Acceleration Center of Pardis Technology Park and also Kish Innovation Center are supporting us. During this period, Kish Innovation Center helped us a lot to form the startup ecosystem of Kish Island. The Kish Free Zone Organization also supported us, especially in the IT department and the Institute of Healthy Sports and Recreation.

How many teams did you recruit since you started working in January? And what are the conditions for recruiting your team?

In Kish Island, because the concept of startup was just taking shape, we first tried to prepare a mental space for people who were involved in the discussion of innovation on Kish Island; This took two months and according to our calls, we were able to attract two teams. One of them is startup Predator in the field of e-sports, which operates as the first e-sports academy in Iran, and the other is startup Rentifa, which works by renting vehicles jointly with the Market Place model, and includes cars, yachts, motorcycles and … Is. These two startups were initially at the center of Kish Innovation and Gozar supported them to have a faster growth process. The Accelerator itself also launched two startups as a studio, the first being an online platform for selling fresh seafood, called Island Fish, and the second being 360 Island Startup, which is an information platform for the Persian Gulf islands. Of course, the startup Rentifa left the acceleration cycle in July 1999 and was in the process of finding a first round investor. Kish Mine Club startup also entered our pre-acceleration cycle about a month ago. This startup is in the field of digital exchange and currency cryptography. Given that Free Zones They have a very special feature for discussing currency codes. This startup can be a very attractive startup. Preparatory work is currently underway.

What happens to the teams after the acceleration? Do you hold a demodie yourself? Or do you introduce him to VC?

The fact is that we, if the conditions of Corona allow, intend to officially hold the first smoky event on the island of Kish in October this year. In that event, all the teams that are in the center of Kish Innovation, whether our startups or other teams, can experience attending the event in this way. This is the first time such an event is to be held in the Kish Free Zone. But since Rantifa startup reached this stage earlier, we as an accelerator have tried to introduce ourselves to VCs with the connection we had with VCs. Rentifa has requested funding from about 15 VCs and we are looking forward to negotiations and round one fundraising.

Given your activity in the free zone, what are the potentials for the growth of your startups in this zone?

The fact is that the free zones are one of the turning points in the discussion of tax exemptions. Well, the VAT exemption is currently in place. This means that even companies registered in free zones have to pay VAT. But there is a 20-year income tax exemption in the free zones, which is a huge potential for startups looking to get started. Tax discussion for knowledge-based companies that Export They are very attractive. The next point is the market, the free zone is about entering the international market. In other words, free zones are always a separation from the mainland from the point of view of foreign investors, and we experience this in Kish. For example, Omani investors themselves visit the Kish Island space from time to time and are in contact with the Kish Innovation Center. They are trying to localize startups that have reached their revenue model for countries such as Oman, the UAE, and که where good things have recently happened in Oman itself in terms of innovation. The third point is that due to the geographical limitations of these areas, the work of piloting startups is usually very easy. If startups, especially in the field of hard tech or even in the field of e-commerce, want to bring their product to market and get an initial test of it, free zones have a very high potential. Because the administrative and bureaucratic relations are much less than the mainland and you can reach your goal with the least waste of time. In my opinion, these are the three most important potentials that exist in free zones.

How do you assess the role of mentors and consultants in the transition?

Mentor The ones we work with in the past are specialist mentors who provide expert services and advice to teams in our four areas of expertise: civil engineering, energy, environment and tourism. Transition mentors are often the CEOs of knowledge-based companies. They have been able to progress or even fail, as well as mentors Business Gozar also has experience in the field of entrepreneurship and through their academic education, they are empowered and help teams. We also have mentors in the export sector, which is very important for them to create revenue models that are suitable for the countries of the Persian Gulf region for startups. In addition, we have two other departments in the transition that are the executive arm of the transition and help us: one is the transition academy, which provides the training department, or so to speak, the same mentoring department to the teams. And another is Gozar Studio, which provides digital marketing services to teams. This means that we have tried to make teams have the least concern for the digital marketing debate. From Social Media Discussion, Website Design Discussion, Marketing Discussions and…

What else does a passage accelerator need to grow?

Because our collection is a private collection, and private collections usually have common concerns. These collections are not like government agencies and need a more open look, and friends should consider a more agile process and exempt us from bureaucracy or administrative work as much as possible. We also need to do some things on a larger scale, such as national events or festivals that we can hold on Kish Island. These issues require coordination with the executive apparatus and their negotiations and cooperation.

Have a vivid memory of the establishment of the Pass Accelerator:

Well, let me tell you why I chose the password. The fact is that because the passage means something to me and I like to say it as a memory, many ask me why did you choose the name passage? Password is a completely Persian word in the first place and it means that you move from one place to another. That is, a passage occurs. At Accelerator, startups that come and go in a cycle usually grow from a starting point to an end point, which is the end of the acceleration cycle. This period seems to be a transitional period in which these startups stand by us until this. They go through the course, so this definition is as if we are experiencing a path with these teams and we separate in the right place, and this path is repeated from the beginning. Now we also use prefixes and suffixes for our events, such as passerby, passerby and…

What are your plans for developing the crossing?

Since one of our goals to continue is to connect Iranian startups with abroad, we plan to expand our work in this direction in the next two years.

In other words, our vision is to develop startups in free zones such as Kish, Qeshm, Chabahar and…, which have high potential, and then we have considered the countries of the Persian Gulf as a goal so that we can have our offices in it. Establish countries.