TEHRAN – Coworking, as the self-directed, collaborative, flexible and voluntary work style for shared workplaces, are supported by the Innovation Acceleration Center at the Pardis Science and Technology Park, an expert at the center Davoud Ebrahimi said in an interview with the Tehran Times.

Today there is an entrepreneurship funnel in the world, which includes coworking spaces, accelerators, incubators, technology parks and so on, he explained.

The center recently supports and issues license for coworking spaces, as a place, which makes a network for entrepreneurs, he said.

The coworking spaces can hold educational courses and through acceptance of different types of entrepreneurs and freelancers they provide a dynamic place, which improves innovation, he added.

No one can deny the role of freelancers and entrepreneurs in the national economy, he stressed.

He also explained about innovation accelerators and their great role in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Innovation accelerator, as the private sector, aims to boost entrepreneurship and innovation by supporting ideas and startup teams, he explained.

Training as well as financial support, which is in form of seed money, are provided by the accelerators in order to grow and have their own market share in future, he added.

The accelerator become shareholders at the startups and they benefit from the growth of the startups, he added.

The Pardis Science and Technology Park supports the initiation of the accelerators in financial aspects and help them to obtain necessary licenses, he said.

The accelerator are mostly eager to invest on the online platforms but today we have specialized accelerators in different fields including medicine, health, oil and gas, he said.

Different types of accelerators including business accelerator, corporate accelerator for big holdings, HR accelerators are being established in Iran, he explained.

The center is also active in the field of holding events in different fields of training and development, he added.

The Innovation Acceleration Center aims to raise hope amongst the entrepreneurs and innovation ecosystem through providing facilitation and financial support, he concluded.

According to their website, a total of 38 accelerators received their licenses from the center and the documents of 70 accelerators are being assessed.

The accelerators provide facilities for 988 startup teams, creating 1025 job opportunities.

SB/MG