Here’s What Happened in ‘Idea Croron Ka’ Episode 2 & 3

There is no doubt that episode 3 of Idea Croron Ka season 2 was the best one yet! Cykiq has set the standards too high. Investment or no investment, right or wrong decision is out of question, but the way this startup fought for it; their flawless pitch, their passion and energy is something all startups should learn from.

For all those who missed out on this epic conversation between Cykiq and the investors, here’s a quick recap:

Cykiq is a bicycle sharing platform for short distance travelling in an affordable and readily accessible way. They launched their platform at NUST and have currently catered to up to 600 customers. They asked for an investment of Rs. 1.5 crores against 10% equity. The special feature of their bike is that it is custom one piece design hence it is difficult to disassemble it. The screws used in the bicycle are theft proof as only a special kind of tool can open them.

Also these bicycles have a device through which they can be tracked using GPS and Bluetooth. If somebody tries to unlock the bicycle forcefully, it will send a notification and the team would know exactly which bicycle is facing the issue and where exactly it is located. The investors asked questions like whether the bicycle manufacturing will be done in-house or will it be out-sourced, what will be the payback period, what are the team expertise, biggest challenges faced etc.

While Qaiser Ansari and Naeem Zamindar passed on the investment ask initially, Rabeel Warraich made an offer of Rs. 25 lacs against 20% equity and opened up the offer to fellow investors if they want to partner up for this upon which Naeem agreed to do so. The founders insisted upon raising the investment offer, following which Rabeel raised it to Rs. 30 lacs against 20% shared by Naeem and Rabeel.

Even then the startup was not convinced and Dr. Umar Saif advised them to take the offer and the investors will then help them to raise the next round. However, here came another twist when Qaiser Ansari decided to join the bandwagon and raised the cap to Rs. 50 lac against 36% equity shared equally between the 3 investors. To which, Rabeel raised his concern that he does not want to dilute the startup too much. The final counter offer by the startup was to have Rabeel and Naeem invest Rs. 80 lac for 20% equity.

However, Rabeel and Naeem decided to stick to their own offer of Rs. 30 lac against 20% equity equally split. Upon discussion the startup came up with another offer that was to have Naeem and Rabeel join as board members with 2.5% equity each. Naeem and Rabeel discussed this again and took the offer up to Rs. 35 lac against same equity percentage.

2 more cofounders came on the stage to discuss this new offer with the 2 founders who were pitching but unfortunately they passed on the offer and stick to their offer of taking them on as board members. To this Dr. Umar Saif told them that this offer is normally given when the startup has raised series A, because once the startup raises investment, this 2.5% would mean nothing for the investors. Rabeel then asked the startup to at least raise the equity to 5% each to have them as board members. To which finally the deal came to a closure with the startup accepting the offer.

Following this epic conversation came the next exciting segment where another brilliant story of a man was featured. Qaiser Abbas, an institution in himself; a motivational speaker and an award winning trainer came from a humble background. The struggles he faced shaped him into the inspiration that he has become today. According to him to become successful you need 3 things: to explore oneself, to be able to identify the purpose of your life and to understand what God wants from you.

Next up was a startup Clinic on Wheels which is an online platform to request medical services at your doorstep. It is up and running for 18 months in Karachi. It is convenient for patients to call doctors, physiotherapists, get the lab tests done and get nursing services on just a click of a button. The founder Jehangir asked for Rs. 7 crore against 11% equity.

While Dr. Umar Saif advised him on the valuation part, Naeem Zamindar explained the investment stages. Dr. Saif suggested he should focus on just diagnostics for now. Investors asked questions like the total earning for the past 18 months and how would he use the investment? Unfortunately, all 3 investors passed but this conversation imparted a lot of knowledge on investment and valuation.

Nabeel concluded the episode reiterating the fact that we need to highlight the true heroes of Pakistan. “If you believe you are contributing to the economy of Pakistan and strengthening the economy through entrepreneurship, you are welcome to come on ICK and we would love to support you in every way possible.”

Words cannot do justice to this episode. It is a must watch! Enjoy here:

Watch Idea Croron Ka every Saturday at 7:05 pm on NEO TV Network.

Review – Idea Croron Ka | Episode 2

Idea Croron Ka, Nabeel A. Qadeer, CMACED and NEO has lived up to the expectations. The new season has brought some really good startups with refined pitches. These startups are more confident about what they are doing and are tackling the difficult questions posed by investors with logic and ample research.

Episode 2 of the season featured 2 startups including Let’s Innovate who introduced smart helmets that not only save a person’s life, but also deliver instant message to nearest hospital and next of kin in case of an accident and provide indicators that are linked with bike’s indicators for traffic that’s behind. It also has built in earphones to easily answer phone calls.  To be able to go into full scale production of these helmets, the founders; Waqas and Ali Syed asked for Rs. 1 crore in exchange of 10% equity.

The investors asked questions on their manufacturing model, how they are different from their competitors and how will they scale it globally. Dr. Umar Saif, Expert Business Advisor asked them for their specific expertise in technology and advised them to focus on the machine learning algorithm and license out to other companies instead of manufacturing the entire unit. Upon asking for the final decision, while Rabeel Warraich, Founder Sarmayacar and Qaiser Ansari, CEO Pantera Engineering passed the offer based on their respective concern on barrier to entry and not a suitable target market, Naeem Zamindar, Chairman Pakistan Board of Investment showed interest and said he’d like for Abdul Rehman Talat, CEO BlueEast to meet the startup as well and maybe the two of them come up with a mutual offer.

He offered to connect him to the largest manufacturer of helmets in Italy and help him explore synergies. So while the startup left with no investment, they surely left with lots of advice and connections that can help them move forward.

Next up Idea Croron Ka featured Zymal Umer, the youngest social entrepreneur in the segment Pakistaneo Kay Heroes. Zymal makes paper bags through newspapers and magazines to reduce pollution in the country. She sells these bags and donates the money she receives from the sales amongst the needy and poor. Her message to the youth is to take up such initiatives so we can reduce poverty in our country and make our country environment friendly.

Following this segment, Idea Croron Ka’s second episode featured the 2nd startup named Caristan. Caristan is a device coupled with a mobile application that informs the driver of the technical issues that the car maybe facing. It also keeps a tab on the fuel consumption and allows the driver to be notified of the timely maintenance of the car.

Another exciting feature is that it can show the comparison of 2 different cars of the same model as to how efficiently each of these work. Just like Let’s innovate, this app also includes a feature where in case of an accident, the next of kin is immediately informed through a message and is also sent the location. It also incorporates a rating feature which can help the user in buying or selling a car. For execution of this entire product, the founders asked of Rs. 40 million against 35% equity.

The investors asked questions like what exactly is the core focus of the app, whether they will manufacture the device or just provide a monitoring service. When asked for the final comments, all investors passed the investment ask however, all investors including Dr. Umar Saif advised the startup to focus on one vertical and excel in it.

As usual Nabeel Qadeer the driving force behind Idea Croron Ka closed the show with an advice: “Keep watching the show and keep supporting the startup ecosystem. Investment or no investment, the guidance that the startups are getting, the connections that they make and the mileage they receive from the show that millions of people watch is definitely worth a lot.”

Here’s the link to the complete episode:



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