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Will PTI Government Support and Promote Startups Culture in Pakistan?

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

  1. 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: lce@lums.edu.pk
    Website: https://lce.lums.edu.pk
    Twitter: http://twitter.com/lumscent

  2. 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: info@li.com.pk
    Website: http://lakson.com.pk/

  3. 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: info@shelltameer.com

  4. 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: incubator.pitb@punjab.gov.pk
    Website: http://plan9.pitb.gov.pk

  5. Frontier Digital Ventures

    Funding to accelerate the growth of amazing online classifieds businesses

    Website: http://frontierdv.com

  6. Golden Gate Ventures

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

  7. 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

  8. Northstar Advisors Pte. Ltd.

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

  9. 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

  10. 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: info@ijara.com.pk
    Website: https://www.ijara.com.pk/

  11. Techstars Ventures

    Techstars Ventures is the venture capital arm of Techstars

    Website: http://www.techstars.com

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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: contact@nicpakistan.pk
    Phone: +92-51-844-3333 / +92-51-844-2222

  15. 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

  16. 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: wecreatepakistan@gmail.com
    Phone: +92 51 2228969

  17. 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: planx.pitb@punjab.gov.pk

  18. 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

  19. 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: helpdesk@ictrdf.org.pk
    Phone: (+92 51) 921 5360 – (+92 51) 921 5361 – (+92 / 51) 921 5362 – (+92 / 51) 921 5363 – (+92 / 51) 921 5364

  20. 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: info@thedotzero.com

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.

Abdul Rahman

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