Entrepreneurs

Will PTI Government Support and Promote Startups Culture in Pakistan?

Published

6 years ago

September 9, 2018

Startups are the innovative ideas of our Youth and these are launched with great expectations to succeed and transform into Enterprises or Corporate Entities in The Long Run. Startups culture is being viral throughout the world including Pakistan. With the great success of Uber and Careem, the Youth graduates of Various Business Universities and IT Professionals pitch their Ideas and start their Entrepreneurial Journey. Pakistani Youth has great talent to be explored through devising a Youth Policy and Startup Ideas.

Funding Challenges :

The Startups need funding to cover their maintenance and recurring costs of Webhosting, Staffing and Marketing the Products and Services. Most of the Entrepreneurs start their Businesses on the solo flight which results in tough challenges if they run short of funds. Unfortunately, we have limited options in Pakistan for Venture Capital that makes the roadmap of Startups tougher and challenging. At present, we have very few Startup Funding resources which warrant that Government should take notice of such dearth and start Venture Capital or Fund to finance the Innovative Ideas of Pakistani Entrepreneurs. Former Government had announced to Set Up Venture Capital Fund for Startups but it was not launched due to unknown reasons. The Following List of Venture Capitals and Startups Incubators is very short and only available to selected high growth Startups of Pakistan.

StartUp Incubators & Venture Capital Firms in Pakistan

LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE) – The Foundation Fund

Address: LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship, 3rd Floor, Suleman Dawood School of Business, LUMS, DHA, Lahore, Pakistan 54792

Phone: +92 423 5608439
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://lce.lums.edu.pk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumscent
Lakson Group

The Lakson Group is one of Pakistan’s leading business conglomerates. The Lakson Group (“Lakson”) was established in 1954 and is one of the largest business groups in Pakistan. Today we manage and own companies that are industry leaders in their respective sectors including agri-business, call centres, consumer non-durables, fast food, financial services, media, paper and board, printing and packaging, surgical instruments, technology (data-networking, BPO and software) and travel.Phone: (021) 111-525-766
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://lakson.com.pk/
Shell Tameer

Shell LiveWIRE is a Royal Dutch Shell Social Investment Programme, which enables young people to start their own business and create employment.

Website: https://www.shelltameer.com
Address: Shell LiveWIRE Trust. Shell House, Karachi, Pakistan
Phone: (021) 111 888 222
Email: [email protected]
PLAN9 TECHNOLOGY INCUBATOR

PLAN9 Fellowship Program.

Address: Level 09, Arfa Software Technology Park, 346 – B, Ferozepur Road, Lahore.
Phone: +92.42.3588.0062 – ext. 1910, 1915
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://plan9.pitb.gov.pk
Frontier Digital Ventures

Funding to accelerate the growth of amazing online classifieds businesses

Website: http://frontierdv.com
Golden Gate Ventures

Website: http://goldengate.vc
Address: 73B Duxton Road Singapore 089532
Phone: +65 6602 8050
Northstar Group

The Northstar Group is a Singapore headquartered private equity firm managing more than US$2.0 billion in committed equity capital dedicated to investing in growth companies in Indonesia and to a lesser extent, other countries in Southeast Asia.

Website: https://www.nsgroup.com
Northstar Advisors Pte. Ltd.

Address: 6 Battery Road Unit #35-05 Singapore 049909
Phone: +65 6533-3210
Fax: +65 6533-3211
Abraaj

We are a global institution investing in growth markets across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Turkey.

Website: http://www.abraaj.com
IJARA Group

A Pakistan based Private Equity Firm, led by exemplary turnaround specialists who understand what it takes to grow businesses to the next level. IJARA is focused in supporting partner companies through their most difficult challenges.

Address: First Floor Federation House, Abdullah Shah Ghazi Road, Block 5 Clifton, Karachi 75600 Pakistan
Phone: +92 (21) 3582-2312
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.ijara.com.pk/
Techstars Ventures

Techstars Ventures is the venture capital arm of Techstars

Website: http://www.techstars.com
Invest2Innovate

Invest2Innovate supports startup communities in growth markets and has been operating in Pakistan since 2011. They have an incubation centre and they also invest in selected companies. You can find more information on their site.

Website: http://invest2innovate.com
10xc

10xC provides seed funding, advice and shared services to entrepreneurs working on ideas or concepts towards validation of product/market fit. Whether you’re a new startup trying to get off the ground or an existing company in need of growth capital, 10xC has the means to support you. They offer up to 1M Rupees initial investment for the sake of 20% equity and incubation to the accepted startups.

Website: http://10xc.pk
National Incubation Center

NIC is supported by Government and Jazz with the help of Teamup. Support in raising capital from Angel investors locally and globally.

Website: http://nicpakistan.pk
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +92-51-844-3333 / +92-51-844-2222
Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Islamabad Chapter

TiE runs numerous angel investment groups and funding forums throughout its network. They also host the Pakistan StartUp Cup.

Invested in: Sukoon.
Website: http://islamabad.tie.org
WECREATE Pakistan

Women’s Entrepreneurial Center of Resources, Education, Access, and Training for Economic Empowerment (WECREATE) Projects.

Website: http://pakistan.wecreatecenter.com
Address: Office #1, Select Plaza, F-11 Markaz, Islamabad
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +92 51 2228969
PLANX

With a strong network of local and global investors associated with PlanX, we connect our startups with the best potential investors to help aid their growth.

Website: http://planx.pitb.gov.pk
Address: 2nd floor, Arfa Software Technology Park, 346-B, Ferozepur Road, Lahore
Phone: +92-42-35880062 Ext. 1206
Email: [email protected]
Planet N

Planet N provides a platform for prime growth to start-ups through collaboration and shared services.

Website: http://planetngroup.com
Address: 1st Floor, Plot No. E-23, 2nd Zamzama Comm. Lane, Phase V, D.H.A., Karachi, Pakistan.
Phone: +92 21 3537 9106 – 8
Fax: +92 21 3581 0445
National ICT R&D Fund

This is the best place to get funding for your startups. National ICTRD provides big funds on zero equity to promote entrepreneurship. They have already Invested in More than 50 startups.

Website: http://www.ictrdf.org.pk
Address: 6th Floor, HBL Tower Jinnah Avenue, Blue Area, Islamabad, Pakistan
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (+92 51) 921 5360 – (+92 51) 921 5361 – (+92 / 51) 921 5362 – (+92 / 51) 921 5363 – (+92 / 51) 921 5364
Dot Zero Ventures

Dot Zero ventures primarily invest in early-stage companies that have successfully demonstrated through pilots that their service, product or idea has mass appeal. Invested in: PerkUp, Sukoon and two others.
Website: http://dotzeroventures.com
Address: 14th Floor, Dilkusha Forum, Karachi
Phone: +92 (021) 3455-6352
Email: [email protected]

It is imperative that current PTI Government should set up Venture Capital Fund immediately to help improve the Startup Culture in Pakistan Since the Finance Minister Asad Omar has been the active Entrepreneur himself and remained the CEO of Engro Chemical limited and he must be quite aware that There is a Grave Need to set up Venture Capital Fund through SME Bank or microfinance Banks 0r Commercial Banks . The Startups Culture has a mushrooming growth in Pakistan with various Innovative Ideas taking birth as real Businesses through the Efforts of Youngpreneurs. With the Set up of Venture Capital Fund, The StartUps Growth will expand throughout Pakistan. It will ultimately boost the Youth Entrepreneurs Ideas and relieve them of financial Challenges.

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Economy

Sania Approves Cognitive API Architecture For Ehsaas’ One Window Socioeconomic Registry

Published

3 years ago

June 6, 2021

Press Release

Islamabad: The Cognitive API architecture for Ehsaas’ National Socio-Economic Registry 2021 is one of the six main pillars of ‘One Window Ehsaas’. With the survey, which is building the registry currently 90.5% complete nationwide, Ehsaas is firming up its plans to open data sharing and data access services for all executing agencies under Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division (PASSD).

Data sharing will be done through the Cognitive API Architecture approach. The deployment of Ehsaas API architecture for data sharing will allow executing agencies to access data from the unified registry in real-time to validate beneficiary information. This will empower them to ascertain eligibility of potential beneficiaries. The benefits which each family and individual is receiving from each organization will be visible to all agencies across all Ehsaas programs.

There will be two-way data sharing; agencies with whom data will be shared will also be required to update the registry with their own information, hence the registry will become more robust over time. A final presentation was made to Dr. Sania Nishtar who closely oversaw this process. She praised the technical team working on Ehsaas Cognitive API Architecture approach and congratulated them. Later, this service will be extended to provinces and other government agencies implementing Ehsaas programs as well.

The API architecture for data sharing will facilitate adoption of the Ehsaas One Window targeting Policy. The objective of this policy is to make targeting predictable, evidence based, transparent and effective in the Ehsaas ecosystem. Under the same architecture, the Utility Stores Corporation has also been linked with the Ehsaas database, which will underpin execution of a commodity subsidies program. This approach is being adopted for the first time and will usher in transparency. Previously, there was no way of one government agency knowing what support an individual or a family was getting from another government agency.

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Some families with connections and influence were getting multiple benefits and other more deserving ones were getting none. Now, with the data integration, Ehsaas agencies will be able to see what benefits an individual or the households is getting. But more importantly, it will also reflect their entitlement in terms of various Ehsaas programmes and initiatives, because the data sharing is pegged with the Ehsaas One Window targeting Policy.

The integrated registry and the cognitive API Architecture for the registry is one pillar of the One Window Ehsaas, which will be launched this week. It has six main components: one-stop-shop centers; an integrated digital interface facing the office; a digital information and services platform; a mobile app; an integrated database comprising of cognitive API architecture; and the standardized beneficiary targeting policy.

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Digital

Karachi-based digital bookkeeping startup, CreditBook raises $1.5 million in seed funding

Published

3 years ago

May 6, 2021

Press Release

The Karachi-based digital bookkeeping startup CreditBook, which is trying to ensure that tracking of transactions goes digital, has announced that it has raised US$1.5 million in seed funding from international and local investors.

Key investors included Pakistan’s BitRate Venture Capital, VentureSouq from the United Arab Emirates, US-based Better Tomorrow Ventures, Ratio Ventures, Quiet Capital, Toy Ventures, and i2i Ventures.

Established in June 2020 by Hasib Malik, Iman Jamall, and Hisham Adamjee, CreditBook strives to help microentrepreneurs digitalize and track their transactions.

CreditBook aims to utilize the funding to scale its user base and diversify its product offerings. As indicated by the startup, its registered client base grew 5x in the last six months to reach 500,000.

“Before the launch in June 2020, we had planned to use a mix of digital marketing and offline acquisition. But with lockdown restrictions, we pivoted to a purely digital strategy. We were surprised when we saw thousands of users come onto the platform in the first month with less than $1,000 in total spend,” Malik told Tech in Asia. Via TechinAsia

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Digital

Pakistan Moves Closer to Train One Million Youth with Digital Skills

Published

3 years ago

February 8, 2021

Press Release

Enabling people to bring at least an additional US$1 billion each year into the Pakistani economy through E-Commerce skills by 2025.

Pakistan Moves Closer to Train One Million Youth with 100+ eCommerce and Digital Skills

Karachi, Pakistan, February 05, 2021 ………Pakistan has a large labour force that stands among the top 10 largest labour forces in the world, and it’s growing day by day. To create adequate employment opportunities for them is a huge challenge. On the other hand, employers frequently keep saying that they are unable to find workers with the appropriate skills necessary for their businesses. This obviously shows that there is a mismatch between the demand and supply of skills.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has shown that skills development can play a major role in the alleviation of poverty, when carefully planned and implemented in the context of the available and emerging employment and income-generation opportunities. This multiplies many folds when the skills are acquired in the digital spheres. It not only widens the work opportunities but also opens up avenues for entrepreneurial ventures as well.

Extreme Commerce, Pakistan’s largest and renowned E-Commerce capacity building platform has excelled in its mission of making Pakistan a hub of entrepreneurial opportunities. Under the guidance of Sunny Ali, thousands of aspiring individuals from Pakistan have successfully initiated global e-commerce businesses.

Extreme Commerce, Pakistan’s largest e-commerce skill development and the entrepreneurial platform has achieved yet another milestone with the expansion of 100+ skills training courses through the “Video Boot Camp (VBC).” The Video Boot Camp includes virtual sessions and videos encompassing around 100 essential e-commerce and digital skills required to excel in the spheres of online businesses. The Video Boot Camp training program is specifically tailored to facilitate the budding entrepreneurs and businessmen and freelancers.

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According to Ali, “E-commerce has skyrocketed after the pandemic and is estimated to grow to a whopping $4.3 trillion within this year.” He further adds, “There is a huge potential for growth in eCommerce both domestic and international, and that is why Extreme Commerce has pledged to enable people to bring at least an additional $1 billion each year into the Pakistani economy through E-Commerce skills by 2025.”

The Video Boot Camp includes over a 100 plus income generating E-Commerce skills (income streams) which an entrepreneur needs to skyrocket their businesses. Some skills offered through the VBC include: Selling through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) model, Virtual Assistant and FBA Freelancing, online store management of international and local E-Commerce marketplaces, bookkeeping account management services, digital and social media marketing, content writing and graphic designing, 3D designing & modelling, data science and analytics and more.

This initiative of Extreme Commerce will be immensely fruitful in helping their trainees become leading entrepreneurs of the country. Ali, contented with his vision states, “At Extreme Commerce, we offer a multitude of digital skills that are categorized into 100+ courses/income streams under the umbrella of Video Boot Camp (VBC 2021). These skills are pivotal to reducing unemployment and enhancing the capital of our country.” Sharing his focus and goals, he adds, “Skills that actually help you succeed as an online freelancer and even in the real-life environment plus increase your income thereby, are our prime focus right now.”

Earlier, Extreme Commerce and Mishal Pakistan, the Country Partner Institute of the World Economic Forum had signed a partnership to mainstream e-commerce in Pakistan, this includes capacity building initiatives for the media and industry players, including trainings, seminars and workshops.

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The government of Pakistan has estimated digital skills global industry, often referred to as online outsourcing, is expected to generate gross service revenue between $15 billion and $25 billion in 2021.

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