The FINANCIAL — Craig Redmond, The founder and CEO of Zipier, based in Georgian Technopark, plans to conduct a large-scale business incubator, Global Startup City. The complex will house 2,500 start uppers. Living in Global Startup City will be extremely cheap – USD 5 a day for housing, electricity and two meals a day, the entrepreneur told The FINANCIAL.
Craig, who has worked in the United Kingdom, the United States, the Philippines, Taiwan, and New Zealand, evaluates his Technopark experience very positively, as it had enough to offer for him to completely move the headquarters of his company to Georgia. This also gave him the opportunity to employ local citizens as well. The programme offered by Zipier revolves around HR assistance for companies, as well as aid in dealing with the United States’ rather complicated tax system. It has successfully operated for more than seven years, which means that it has passed the period of when it could, by definition, be considered a startup.
Getting acquainted with the local market environment has encouraged him to think bigger. Recently, he came up with a new idea and has dedicated the past year to refining all the details necessary for it to succeed. Craig plans to build a private business-incubator complex, Global Startup City, which will host over 2,500 start uppers.
“My biggest inspiration was US Silicon Valley, where all the brainiacs gather together and work to accomplish their usually not-so-modest ideas, said Craig. It is every technology geek’s dream to get there. Those who manage to get in find themselves surrounded by people who are just as driven to create as they are, ideas are shared and collaborated upon like nowhere else in the world. At the same time, through its gradual growth, Silicon Valley has come to showcase the true meaning of scale economics – various industries necessary for its functioning are adapting to become even more accessible to Valley residents, which, in turn, makes the place even more appealing and attracts larger crowds to the already talent-laden population.”
“What made me think that Georgia could be the right place for a similar project is some of the advantages the country has over the Californian hub – namely, Silicon Valley is extremely hard for non-US residents to get into. At the same time, the cost of living is miles above that in Georgia, as, even by US standards, California is an expensive state to live in. Electricity costs are also around 35% lower, which is an important expense for business incubators. Besides, the Georgian tax system is at the same time simpler and lighter, with much lower rates and very considerable cases of complete exemption. Georgia could become a regional centre in this field.”
“The complex will house 2,500 start uppers. Initially, 100 chosen will be funded with USD 20,000 in order to give them a kick start in their endeavours. The complex will be large but simple and will try to be as self-sufficient as possible, including the restaurant and other facilities on its territory. Each flat will cost only USD 2,000 to make and their stackable nature will make sure that the complex can run even without all the planned buildings in place. It will be possible to enlarge the complex according to the needs of the company. The location is yet to be chosen, however, it will need a considerably large territory in order to function properly. Living in Global Startup City will be extremely cheap – USD 5 a day for housing, electricity and two meals a day. It will be a profit organization and the successful businesses will have to pay 7% of their revenues to the company.”
“The advantages the hub could offer Georgia are significant – besides giving the local talent a place to gather, share ideas and work together, a lot of foreign talent would flood in. Even if locals are to be outmatched by foreign start uppers early in the incubator’s life, Georgians would still have an opportunity to find jobs within the companies made in the incubator, as well as get valuable experience from foreign prospects and build upon their experience.”
Craig and his colleagues are currently negotiating with the Government of Georgia in order to ratify the Memorandum of Understanding. The company will not depend on the public sector financially, although it is of pivotal importance to have the Government’s support in this business, even if it is not in direct resources.
“Some of the ways the Government could help the business incubator would be to provide extra bus routes to fulfil the transportation needs of those within the facility, or to advertise it directly. We also hope to create a Free Industrial Zone on the incubator’s territory, which would make the hub even more attractive to potential customers and alleviate the substantial tax pressure which sometimes becomes a decider on whether a startup will succeed or fail,” Graig said.
Craig is currently in Dubai, fundraising for his project. “The net value of the incubator will be in the region of USD 100 million, although the flexibility of the apartments will allow for gradual growth of the complex,” Graig said.
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