Discovering the Power of AI: An Introduction to AI Forge
March 16, 2023Business
Having a great business idea often isn’t enough, companies typically need more than that to be successful. A great idea is a good start, but how are you going to bring it to market? How are you going to raise funds? How and who is going to build your product/service? What industry professionals do you have in your network that will happily battle-test your product or service and give you feedback? Those are just a few of the questions that a lot of early-stage start-ups generally don’t have the answers to; and unfortunately, not having the answers to those questions shutters a business's growth and prevents it from getting off the ground in a meaningful way.
Many start-ups choose to work with Ai Forge (AIF) because we do have the answers to those questions; When founders are accepted into the Ai Forge incubator’s 12-week in-person program, they gain access to a massive network of investors, corporate partners, mentors and advisors, software developers, and more.
Grow Your AI Startup with Our Leading AI Incubator
AIF was created by Craig Massey, a serial entrepreneur that has started 9 companies and has had 4 successful exits totaling over £42 million; and Robin Kozhe a Ph.D. holder in Genetics and Data Science from Cambridge University and the CEO of the blockchain automation company Vaionex valued at £23 million. Before launching AI Forge, Massey and Kohze co-founded Block Dojo, the #1 blockchain incubator in the UK that accounted for 24% of all blockchain investments in the UK in 2022 (acquired by nChain in February 2023). After parting ways with Block Dojo following its acquisition, Kohze and Massey used the wealth of knowledge they acquired and the vast networks they built in their lifetimes to create Ai Forge and solve a problem that they have both experienced at some point in their careers: many start-ups have great ideas, but they do not have the resources they need to achieve success."
“There are three great issues that founders face when starting their enterprise: 1) Building their MVP 2) Hiring the right team 3) Getting funded,” said Craig Massey, the co-founder and CEO of Ai Forge.
“In the Ai Forge programme, we spend time going through the various recruitment options and how to find your perfect Co-Founder; as part of the package of benefits of joining the programme, we provide start-ups with 100 x FREE hours of highly skilled software developers, so that all companies have a working prototype (MVP) by the end of the 12-weeks; and of course, the whole programme leads up to the Investor Week where we literally cherry pick from hundreds of investors and match them with the founders that pique their interest and meet their mandate over a series of evening dinners to have 1-2-1 conversations. This culminates in a final Demo Day where the start-ups' pitch to c200 investors. Throughout the programme we also invite major SEIS funds and business angel groups into the Forge to meet with founders for a sneak peek ahead of the investor week–this is invaluable when it comes to getting traction with funding ahead of the investor week,” he added.
AIF runs three cohorts per year–January-March / May-July / Sept-Nov–and a maximum of 12 start-ups are accepted into each cohort. If a start-up is accepted into the Ai Forge program, AI Forge invests £10,000 into their start-up, provides each team with £10,000 of professional services, £155,000 in service credits ( google cloud, AWS, notion), and delivers a program worth £100,000 that is full of workshops, capital introductions, mentors/advisors, and more in exchange for 9% equity in the start-up.
“The great thing about running an incubator, is that as it’s still early-stage, the founders are coachable and as a team, we can collectively steer them into a more robust and scalable enterprise than they first envisaged,” said Massey.
“One aspect that is always exciting is when we go super-granular on the financial model, to uncover the real financial potential of each start-up as inevitably, prior to that, the finances were more of a best guess. Once the founders understand the key drivers of the business, they have much greater confidence to communicate the potential of their enterprise to investors and have hard evidence that their business makes sense through using sensible assumptions. Having started 9 companies myself, I am completely aware that a lot has to happen simultaneously, and we provide a perfect blueprint for that to get a company up and running from scratch in just 12 weeks. To help start c36 companies per city is a real buzz for both the founders and the AI Forge team.”
Why AI Entrepreneurs Choose AI Forge Incubator
If you're an AI entrepreneur looking to take your startup to the next level, our program is the solution you've been searching for. With our assistance, you not only gain the resources that are hard to obtain on your own such as funding, expert guidance, technological muscle to help you build your MVP, and introductions that might lead you to your first customers, but you will also receive help developing your team, improving your business plan, and improving your go-to-market strategy which will significantly increase your chances of success in the market.
Our support does not end when the 12 weeks conclude either, post-program we help our alumni raise their seed round and host events that allow them to continue growing their network of investors, corporate partners, industry professionals, and potential hires.
The Ai Forge incubator program is a life-changing experience and a pivotal moment in your business journey; Ai Forge gives you the resources that will help you take your AI startup to new heights. Spots in each cohort are extremely limited and earning a spot is a highly competitive process, however, you can increase your chance of acceptance by applying to Ai Forge Cohort #1 before June 1st, 2023. We will be reviewing, interviewing, and accepting applicants on a rolling basis up until this deadline which means there will be less people competing for the very few seats available in the program up until this point.