A social impact incubator

Take your startup from concept to seed funding

A great idea is only the beginning of your journey. To get the funding you need, you’ll have to show investors how your concept can generate a healthy return on their investment. Since a good investor will exercise due diligence, you need to be ready to provide compelling answers to the many questions they’ll have. Seasoned investors will only fund your startup if you can prove to them that you have the wherewithal to build, operate, and grow a viable business.

Incub8Next is a partnership between Arabian Prince, futurist and founding member of N.W.A., Paul Hershenson, cofounder of the software innovation firm Art+Logic, Matthew Walk, a serial healthcare entrepreneur, and Aj Kang, inventor and sales & marketing maverick.

We work with a small, select group of founders to help them refine their concepts, design their products, and (de)construct their business plans.

From back-of-the-napkin sketches to boardroom presentations, find your roadmap to success with Incub8Next.

Social impact

Our mission is simple

To encourage the design of technology infused with humanity

Our goal is impactful

To incubate products and services that advance justice and equity

We’re looking for startups with ideas that will benefit underserved communities and vulnerable populations. We want to work with people who are passionate about making a positive social impact. We are particularly interested in projects that focus on physical and mental health and wellness technologies.

Our engagement model

1

Ideation

We begin by helping you refine your idea.  We’ll meet weekly (via Zoom) usually for 3 to 5 weeks.  At first, our conversations will be expansive brainstorming sessions. We’ll ask “what if” type questions meant to open up new possibilities.  Then, as the idea comes into focus, we’ll take a more challenging posture and probe for holes and weaknesses.  The goal of this phase is to nail down a focused, solid business concept.

2

Product definition

During this phase, under our guidance, you’ll work with Art+Logic’s team of designers and lead engineers to clearly define and document your product. The deliverables will vary depending on the type of product you are developing, but for software, they usually include a requirements document, user experience documents, wireframes, mockups, and a project plan. This phase usually lasts for approximately 1 month.

3

Business planning

This is the final stage before preparing your pitch deck.  During this stage, we’ll focus on two crucial areas of business planning: financial modeling and marketing strategy.  We’ll work with you to develop the financial model that drives the pro forma financials to be included in the deck.  We’ll also help you craft and document your marketing strategy.  This phase usually lasts about a month.

4

Pitch deck creation

In this phase, you’ll work with our team to create and perfect your pitch deck.  This phase usually lasts for about one month.

5

Investor outreach

Once the pitch deck is completed, it’s time to reach out to investors!  We will provide you with the tools needed to generate referrals to active investors and pitch to our internal network of angel investors.  We’ll be right there at your side as you engage with interested investors.  The duration of this phase depends entirely on investor interest and engagement.

We are…

Arabian Prince
Arabian Prince headshot

Songwriter, rapper, producer, DJ, technologist Pro Gamer and futurist, Arabian is best known for being a founding member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted rap group N.W.A., pioneering west coast electro music and producing the Grammy nominated #1 hit song Supersonic. He is the founder of iNov8 Next Open Labs and president of The Los Angeles First Tech Challenge (LAFTC) robotics competition and partner at Black Dog Gaming. His passion for technology led to him to create a 3D animation and special effects studio in the 90’s working with companies like Saban Entertainment and Fox, including 100+ video game, film and TV titles for Fox interactive and Vivendi Universal.

As a consultant, Arabian has advised many companies on bridging the gap between technology and the youth, while bringing new product innovations to market. He and his tech partners are working to bring Open Labs to communities across the country in support of youth, women, diversity, veterans and anyone else who wants to explore the future of technology. He is currently launching a new gaming product that will hit the market soon called mClassic

Paul Hershenson

Paul Hershenson

Paul is an entrepreneur, consultant, and musician. Early in his career, he helped pioneer the direct to hard disk audio recording and nondestructive editing techniques that are ubiquitous in digital audio workstations today.

In 1991, he co-founded Art+Logic, a software and hardware innovation firm. Along with his partner Tom Bajoras, and a core group of talented, dedicated employees, Paul built Art+Logic into a fixture of the technology industry with clients such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Disney, NBCUniversal and hundreds of others. Now in its 31st year, with 65 developers working from home offices throughout the US and Canada, Art+Logic is widely recognized as one of North America’s most trusted software and product development teams.

Paul is a graduate of Yale University.

Matthew Walk

Matthew Walk headshotMatthew Walk holds a doctorate of pharmacy from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. During his 10+ years of healthcare entrepreneurship, he has overseen the launch and market strategy of over 50 different FDA-approved pharmaceutical products and medical devices. He currently consults with various med-tech, biopharma, and healthcare AI companies. He is a seasoned entrepreneur focusing on the intersection of FDA regulatory compliance, insurance reimbursement, and provider and patient experiences.

Aj Kang

Arabian Prince headshot

Aj Kang has been shaping the sound of modern music for over a decade. He was the inventor of the “streetboxx” and “Beat Thang” and has been blessed to work with, Dallas Austin, Rockwilder, Jermaine Dupri, Paul Okenfold, Teddy Riley, Terry Lewis, Bob Ezrin, Jewel, Boi 1 da, Dj Khaled, David Porter, Stevie J, David Santos, Lay Law, Warren G and many others. 

Aj has also had a career in enterprise software sales and marketing, beginning with IX Webhosting, a Columbus-based web-hosting company that was acquired by Endurance International Group in 2015 for $28 million. After IX was acquired, Aj followed the founder of IX Webhosting to his next investment and became the initial head of sales and marketing for “Dvele,” an innovative, luxury smart-home builder in California. Aj helped Dvele raise over $14 million in start-up capital before leaving to become head of sales and marketing for a highly regarded custom software developer in Texas. 

Aj has an impressive track record of helping companies build strong sales and marketing operations.

David Richard

David Gerzof Richard is the CEO and founder of BIGfish PR (http://www.BIGfishPR.com) a public relations agency headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts that represents publicly traded companies, sovereign nations, professional athletes, social impact brands, and white-hot start-ups. In addition to running BIGfish, he is a professor of public relations at Emerson College and a social impact investor. He holds a master’s degree from Emerson College and a bachelor’s degree from Boston University. David is a marketing leader with deep expertise in corporate storytelling and the introduction of new companies, ideas, and products across a spectrum of sectors including technology, energy, sustainability, consumer products, healthcare, finance, professional sports, agriculture, travel, and tourism.

Contact us

If you are interested in working with us, please start by telling us about yourself and your startup.

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