Tezos Commons :: Fortifying The Future: Exploring TZAPAC’s New Startup Accelerator/Incubator Initiative With Imran…
March 21, 2024Fortifying The Future: Exploring TZAPAC’s New Startup Accelerator/Incubator Initiative With Imran Haqeem
TZAPAC’s Imran Haqeem speaks about Fortify Labs – Asia Pacific’s new Web 3.0 startup incubator/accelerator initiative.
The Asia Pacific region is a bustling hub of creative Web 3.0 activity. With its entrepreneurial spirit, tremendous cultural diversity, and historic knack for technical innovation, Asia Pacific represents an important hotbed for blockchain innovation and experimentation.
As important Tezos ambassadors in this critical region, the team at TZAPAC has been hard at work for many years building community, educating builders, and driving adoption within Asia Pacific’s vibrant Web 3.0 community.
Now, with a renewed focus on supporting entrepreneurs to realize their creative visions here in the Tezos ecosystem with a new accelerator/incubator initiative known as Fortify Labs, the TZAPAC team looks to make some big waves in 2024. And, to hear TZAPAC’s deputy head of lab strategy Imran Haqeem tell it, big waves might be exactly what’s in store…
“TZAPAC has been around for quite a bit. When I first started we were very focused on building the Tezos community and building up the arts side of Tezos specifically. We did a bunch of events like Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Moments Jakarta, and ArtScience Museum in Singapore.The broader mandate of TZAPAC is Tezos adoption in the Asia Pacific region, both on the project side and the community side. Naturally, Tezos has a footing in art. The artist community here is super strong and super vibrant, so we were very focused on that, but we do have the Tezos adoption mandate as well in terms of getting projects to be built within the region.Today we’re really focused on helping entrepreneurs and helping them realize their visions and reach their growth goals here in the Tezos ecosystem. Over the years we’ve built a large community in APAC. Now it’s about bridging the gap between the projects and the community.”
It has become increasingly clear over the past few years what a critical role new projects and startups play in driving Tezos adoption forward. Every new application, new innovation, and new game that emerges within the Tezos ecosystem represents a crucial entry point for new users to find their way to Tezos and see what’s going on in this bustling ecosystem for themselves. With that knowledge in hand, the team at TZAPAC has made it their mission to support new startups and entrepreneurs looking to build here in the Tezos ecosystem…
“The path of a startup is often treacherous. Having those people that you can rely on, that you can lean on, and that you can trust is super, super important.”
Enter, Fortify Labs.
As the latest iteration of TZAPAC’s ongoing efforts to support builders, creators, and innovators to realize their creative visions in the Tezos ecosystem, Fortify Labs represents somewhat of a departure from the initiatives that preceded it. The TZAPAC team has learned a lot over the years running its small grants and incubator programs. With Fortify Labs, TZAPAC is determined to put that knowledge to work…
“When I started at TZAPAC, it was when the small grants program was going on. I would say it was pretty bare-bones. We were focused on interesting projects in need of a bit of initial capital. Very quickly we realized that we should be doing more. We know that capital alone isn’t enough. We know that we need to work with these people. We need to spend time with them and give them the resources that they need. We met a bunch of founders and learned a lot about what they needed and the issues that they faced when they were trying to build their startups.Building a product is one part of it, but actually going to market, finding customers, generating revenue, and being sustainable are just as important. Understanding this led to the creation of Fortify Labs. With Fortify Labs, we spend the first 3 months making sure that the product is ready to go to market. The next 5 months is finding customers and partners with you, helping raise capital, and providing additional resources. These resources span from technical support to mentorship and legal support and beyond.At the end of the day, startup founders are entrepreneurs. They have a big dream. We at Fortify Labs are the mere facilitators who support them to reach it.”
In that endeavor to support Web 3.0 entrepreneurs to reach their big dreams here in the Tezos ecosystem, TZAPAC has assembled a formidable team. Deputy Head of Lab Strategy Imran Haqeem has seen a lot during his time working with TZAPAC, and he’s confident that all the pieces are now in place…
“Essentially, Fortify Labs is what we’re calling ‘your growth accomplice’. We’re going to actually sit down and spend time and work with you, help you find your customers, etcetera. My role within that is both laying out the strategy behind the program and making sure that it’s in line with what these startups need. Over my two-plus years working at TZAPAC I’ve worked really closely with founders and Fortify Labs is the product of constant iteration of what we’ve been doing. Now we’re at the point where we know, based on the feedback we’ve received, exactly what startups need. My job is to operationalize it.”
The first cohort of projects selected for Fortify Labs’ support will be announced in the very near future. And, while the list hasn’t been finalized just yet, Imran has been impressed with both the level of interest Fortify Labs has managed to generate since it was announced and the diversity of the projects that have been submitted for review, something he spoke about during his recent appearance on TezTalks Live…
“We‘re still in the midst of finalizing the first cohort, so I can’t go into details on the cohort itself, but we’ve definitely seen a lot of interest. We’ve had applications from across the Asia Pacific region and outside of the region as well. In terms of the types of projects we’ve seen, I would say that it’s quite broad. There’s still kind of an emphasis on NFTs, but we’re definitely seeing more DeFi projects, we’re seeing more gaming-related startups, even AI-related startups. I think this first cohort of projects is going to be a banger.”
With the TZAPAC team throwing its weight behind multiple projects as we head into the second quarter of 2024, it will be very interesting indeed to see how things unfold with Fortify Labs. And, with talented folks like Imran Haqeem leading the charge for the next generation of Web 3.0 projects emerging from the Asia Pacific region, following this initiative’s progress could be well worth any Tezos enthusiast’s time.
Fortifying The Future: Exploring TZAPAC’s New Startup Accelerator/Incubator Initiative With Imran… was originally published in Tezos Commons on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
