Preparing for our Business Competition Final

Part of our "Drones as a Service" Business Incubation Program and following the one-week Business Development seminar held in early April (read more on the seminar in this blog), the four finalist teams are now working hard during the five-week long business development period, iterating on their business model and preparing the business plan and pitch that will be their basis for the Final competition. During this Iteration phase, the four finalist teams have weekly mentoring sessions at NEABIC and over Email, supported by following mentors and coaches to guarantee the best prepartion possible for the Final competition.

Niraj Khanal
Mr Khanal is the CEO/Co-founder of Antarprerana, a private company that is supporting entrepreneurs of Nepal through investment and mentorship. Niraj is also affiliated as the Representative for PUM, Netherlands senior experts; providing Nepali companies to get Dutch senior experts, as per their need and requirements. He also teaches entrepreneurship for MBA’s students. He has also been providing coaching and trainings for established and aspiring entrepreneurs. Previously, he was associated with foreign asset Management Company where he worked on sourcing entrepreneurs, for investment and facilitated in bringing Foreign Direct Investments.

Bibek Bhandary
Mr Bhandary is the Investment Manager at Antarprerana. He is an MBA graduate from Symbiosis International University, India. As an investment manager bibek is responsible for sourcing, mentoring and recommending companies for investment opportunities at the company. Bibek has had local and international working experience ranging from commercial banks to growing start-ups. Bibek is passionate about working with and supporting Nepalese entrepreneurs in scaling and creating sustainable business models. Bibek is also a core team member of the 5 starts program which links Nepalese students and entrepreneurs in working together towards achieving sustainability and growth.

Laurent Kohler
Mr. Kohler is a Business Developer whose path has evolved from engineering to innovation, giving him the ability to balance logical perspectives with human-centered orientation. Through his various experiences and studies, he has acquired a holistic skillset and a broad perception of business and human expectations and needs. Laurent is passionate about analyzing companies of various domains and their business models and aligning them with innovation and digital transformation opportunities. Creating ecosystems, federating people and using co-creation methods to help people achieve their best are Laurent's driving factors.

And we are happy to announce the members of the Final jury of our "Drones as a Service" Business Incubation Program. On May 26, this jury will elect the winner amongst the four finalist teams during the Final Pitching Competition. Discover the members of our Final jury here:

Gisli Olafsson - Jury President
Mr Olafsson is a senior level technology executive with over 25 years of international experience from diverse fields, such as humanitarian response, medical diagnostics, venture capital, non-profit, software development and information technology. He previously served as Nethope’s Emergency Response Director and as Disaster Management Technical Advisor to Microsoft.  As a long term trusted technology advisor to national governments, non-profit organizations and international organizations with a deep understanding of the potential of technology to make their organizations more effective, he is a technology visionary with strong business acumen and strategy development experience. A firm believer in cross-organization collaboration, with great experience in bringing together disparate people and organizations around a common vision. Gisli Olafsson is the Chief Technology Officer of Beringer Finance, the largest tech-focused investment bank in Europe, and is a member of the board of WeRobotics.

Abhaya Poudel - Finance Expert
Mr Poudel is a Chartered Accountant by profession and founder of Biz Serve Pvt. Ltd. He has over nine years of experience in Business Advisory & Consulting, Auditing & Assurance, Accounting and Taxation and FDI Facilitation related services in Nepal. He holds certification degree in International Taxation and is a Certified Information System Auditor from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Mr. Poudel has been involved in promoting entrepreneurship throughout his career. He has been serving as a mentor in various business accelerator programs in Nepal. He is also a Coach in Ye! Community. Ye! Is a community for young entrepreneurs that connect around the world and link them to resources and opportunities to help them make their startup a success.

Janak Raj Joshi - Technical Expert
Mr Joshi is a Chief Survey Officer by profession and holds Professional Masters and Master of Science Degree in Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation with Distinction from University of Twente, ITC, the Netherlands. He has more than a decade of experience in Surveying and Mapping, GIS, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Cadastre and Land Management under Survey Department. His academic interest in this domain motivated him to serve at Land Management Training Centre where he has played a key and decisive role to establish and strengthen Bachelor’s Degree in Geomatics Engineering and Masters in Land Administration at Kathmandu University in collaboration with the Government of Nepal and served there as the Director and Program Coordinator of both program for more than 5 years. He is the pioneer who initiated and supervised UAV project for geo-information acquisition and processing at Kathmandu University. Currently he is working as the Under Secretary (Technical) at Far West Development Commission of the Government of Nepal, responsible to support development activities in the far west Nepal. It includes identifying and prioritization development projects, formulation of plans, policy study, monitoring and evaluation.

Bibhusan Bista - Innovation Expert
Mr Bista is the CEO of Young Innovations, a technology company that builds innovative and powerful solutions to solve global development problems. Bibhusan has been playing a significant role in helping start-ups specialise in building innovative tools for global development. Bibhusan has had local, regional and international experience in the areas of software development, information and communication technologies for development, research and innovation for over eight years. As CEO of the company, Bibhusan looks after overall operations of the company and plays key role in strategic visioning, market positioning and relationship building of the company. His interest lies in promoting technology entrepreneurship among young graduates and enthusiasts.