Hatchery

Hatchery Phase (First 2 Months of Incubation)

The Hatchery Phase at NIC Faisalabad is designed to equip early-stage startups with the foundation needed to fully leverage the incubation journey. Over the course of 8 weeks, founders will cultivate the essential skills, mindset, and discipline required to build sustainable and scalable businesses.

During this phase, startups will:

  • Participate in intensive knowledge sessions focused on entrepreneurial mindset, leadership, and the fundamentals of building a successful startup.
  • Engage in opportunity assessment, business model refinement, and design thinking workshops to sharpen their ideas.
  • Familiarize themselves with the “Silicon Valley” style incubation approach through a structured program based on the globally recognized Founder Institute (FI) curriculum.
  • Network with peers, mentors, and industry experts to explore collaboration opportunities, form teams, or find potential co-founders.

The Hatchery Phase acts as a critical filter — helping founders validate their ideas, test market assumptions, and prepare robust business foundations. Startups that successfully complete this phase will be ready to transition into the full Incubation Program, where they will focus on scaling, growth strategies, and investment readiness.

Generalized Capacity Building Track

Incubatees would be provided with a world class, rigorous, structured, “learn-by-doing,” curriculum, by Founder Institute covering areas like: Orientation Vision Customer Development Revenue Stream Branding & Design Mentor Idea Review Legal & IP rights/ Protection Go-to-Market & Scale Product Development Mentor Progress Review Hiring & Onboarding Growth Equity & Funding Graduation Leading entrepreneurs and subject matter experts of the country would mentor them. They would form working groups with other startups to get feedback on their business models and assignments and would get one-to-one coaching from experienced business coaches to help them with challenges specific to their startup journey

General (Core) Workshops:

These workshops will be offered to all founders to help them improve their general understanding & strengthen their weak areas:

  • Design Thinking
  • Revenue and Pricing Models
  • Brand Workshop
  • Business Model
  • Perfect Pitch
  • Social Media and Digital Marketing
  • Developing and Prototype/ MVP
  • Advanced Business Model
  • Selling Superstars
  • Scaling & Growth Workshop
  • Investor Readiness Workshop
  • Pitch Practice Sessions

Specialized Capacity Building Track

Need-based Workshops Many founders struggle with different aspects, some have problems with managing finance, others (nontech) struggle with technology etc. To address these needs special workshops will be arranged and delivered throughout the initial 4-month incubation period. Domain-specific Workshops Specialized workshops will be held with domain experts for agritech and textile tech startups according to their needs.