22.April 2021 - Encubate is an application that helps people develop their business skills and build the foundations of future business. Like Duolingo or Headspace, it combines a digital guide and a personalized personal development program. The application guides users step by step with the help of tasks and short educational exercises from the very beginning ("I have no idea and I have no idea what to do next") until they have a well-thought-out and basic-tested business plan, budget and plan how to proceed.
“The current entrepreneur support only works for a very small group of start-ups. If you want to start a technological startup without much commitment, then you have a relatively robust supporting ecosystem at your disposal. If you have less time flexibility and limited opportunity to take risks, you don't have many good solutions available,” describes Zdeněk Fred Fous, the founder and CEO of Encubate.
Encubate's vision is to maximize each person's business potential. The target groups are employees who are thinking about their own business and would like to try it but have limited options - they go to work every day, take care of the family, have mortgages, live outside a big city, do not have a good network. Encubate users have the ambition and ability to start a business (often in the traditional "non-start-up" way), but their path to their own business is very different from a young entrepreneur. Encubate takes into account their way of living and shows them the right direction. In addition, it increases their chances of fulfilling their plans and dreams.
App helping millions of people
“In this phase, we rely mainly on the founder and Zdeněk combines all the necessary qualities - a strong vision, a successful hands-on approach and he is also experienced in terms of startup environment. In addition, he is leading a project that addresses the strong needs of tens of millions of people around the world with potentially very fast scalability, which is interesting in terms of business and impact. We are talking here about being able to help millions of people with their dream project and change their lives. And we want to be there.” adds Jan Krahulik, Depo Venture partner.
Encubate was founded in the spring of 2020, since then the company has gone through a few pivots and the team has grown to 6 people. From July to November 2020, a pilot program ran, and dozen people from several countries signed up. The prototype was successful - active users spent an average of 40-60 hours and Encubate received very positive feedback. The company is currently focusing on launching the first version of the application in the UK and is looking for new talent - Lead developer, head of online marketing and CEO assistant.
"Our market is huge and growing. Most of our competition focuses on technology startups but for "ordinary" entrepreneurs there are not many quality solutions. Like Duolingo or Headspace, Encubate is a company with billions in potential and global impact. We have global ambitions and look forward to the next phase with Purpose Ventures and Grouport in the back,” adds Fous.
Purpose Ventures is represented by David Šiška together with Jan Barta from Pale Fire Capital. Purpose Ventures invests its own finances and focuses on investing in ambitious technology projects that contribute to solving real world problems. “We believe in the benefits of business for individuals and society. I have known Zdeněk for over 10 years. He built several foreign companies and, with Encubate, found a scalable way to help start a business and overcome the first barriers. Besides, he has a global ambition and a much broader vision. We are glad that we can support him ", says David Šiška.
Grouport is an angel fund investing in European technology companies at a very early stage of development. In its portfolio, it provides companies not only with financial investments, but also with the expertise, background and contacts of a "family group" composed of top managers and successful entrepreneurs. “At this stage, we rely primarily on the founders and Zdeněk combines all the necessary qualities. In addition, he is leading a project that addresses the strong needs of tens of millions of people around the world with potentially very fast scalability, which is interesting for both business and social impact. We are talking here about being able to help millions of people with their dream project and change their lives. And we want to be there", comments Jan Krahulík from Grouport.
