May 2022: 8th cohort of 15 startups graduated from National Incubation Center Lahore at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Syed Amin-Ul-Haque said that the investments of Pakistani startups grew by almost 5 times over 2020.
Ministry of IT & Telecom through Ignite has been providing both local and international networking platforms to our start-ups to pitch their business ideas and products to potential customers and investors. He was addressing to National Incubation Center Lahore as Chief Guest at Lahore University Management Sciences for the graduation ceremony of its eighth cohort where cash awards were given to the top three graduating start-ups. Giving his remarks at the graduation ceremony, Federal Minister for IT and Telecom, Syed Amin-Ul-Haque advocated for the role of technology in the government’s mission to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Pakistan. He said that IT ministry has taken many steps to boost IT exports and investment in Pakistan. IT exports had crossed $2.1 billion last year and target for this year is $3 billion.
CEO Ignite, Asim Shahryar Husain, stated that Ignite will launch five more NICs in new cities and new verticals in future. Also, investment in Pakistani startups in 2021 had grown by almost 5 times over 2020 which was remarkable. Executive Director NITB & Chairman Ignite Board Syed Hussnain Abbas Kazmi in his address to the graduating startups encouraged the entrepreneurs to continue on the path of innovation and reaffirmed the support of the government in their endeavors.
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39 New Startups of 6th & 7th Cohort Graduate from National Incubation Center Karachi
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June 2022: The National Incubation Center, Karachi hosted its annual graduation ceremony at the NED University. Chief guest of the ceremony, Federal Secretary IT & Telecom, Mr. Mohsin Mushtaq, visited the facility and was given comprehensive presentations by the graduating startups. 39 new startups graduated from NIC Karachi taking the total number of startups graduated from Ignite’s NICs to 568 so far. “Investment in Pakistani startups grew by 5
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times to $373 million last year due to the congenial investment atmosphere provided to young entrepreneurs through our National Incubation Centers Program,” said Mr. Mushtaq while talking to the graduating batch. He also encouraged the graduating batch to explore new customers and investors and to contribute to the development of the knowledge economy of the country. The event was attended by CEO Ignite, officials from Ignite and startups from NIC Karachi.
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Ignite Rewards Winners of Clean Tech Innovation Challenge 2022
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June 2022: Ignite held a cash awards ceremony for the winners of Clean Tech Innovation Challenge 2022 at the National Incubation Center, Islamabad. The prize distribution ceremony was attended by Federal Secretary of IT & Telecom, Mr. Mohsin Mushtaq, officials from Ignite, board members of Ignite, judges and winners of the cleantech challenge.
The cleantech innovation challenge 2022 is a one of its kind initiatives which invited pitches and ideas that facilitated in building a sustainable and eco-friendly future. The thematic areas of the 2022 competition included load forecasting, predictive maintenance, demand management, energy
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theft, customer and consumption insights.
“It is essential for us to find out indigenous solutions to problems which will affect our environment. This Clean Tech Innovation Challenge was an opportunity to foresee the problems and to come up with solutions which can be environment friendly”, stated Asim Shahryar, CEO Ignite.
The challenge received a total of 322 proposals out of which 57 teams made it to the second round. These 57 teams competed against each other and the final 13 were given the opportunity to present their ideas to the jury from which top three winners were selected.
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Consultative Session Held at NIC Islamabad to Discuss Challenges Faced by Startups
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June 2022: A consultative session was organized by Ignite - National Technology Fund at National Incubation Center (NIC) Islamabad to discuss challenges faced by startups. The session was chaired by Ms. Aisha Humera Additional Secretary IT & Telecom. CEO Ignite moderated the session which was attended by representatives from Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan, software house owners, State Bank of Pakistan, VCs, Incubators and Startup founders. Majority of the issues raised by startups were related to SBP, FBR, and SECP. Representatives of these regulators responded to the different issues raised. It was decided to share minutes of the meeting with concerned stakeholders to resolve issues arising in future.
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STAR STARTUPS OF NIC PROGRAM
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NIC Startups Bykea, Farmdar, and Ezbike Raise Combined Funding of $12.3 Million
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June 2022: Bykea, an NIC Karachi startup, raised $10 million from its existing backers in June to tap rising demand for delivery services in Pakistan. Bykea, which focuses on two-wheeler rides, said in a statement that it plans to use the funds to extend its services, which include food and e-commerce deliveries, as well as cash pick-up. The company’s investors include Prosus Ventures, MEVP, Sarmayacar, Tharros, and Ithaca Capital.
Another NIC Karachi startup, ‘Farmdar’ raised $1.3 million in a SEED round in June. Farmdar uses deep-tech with high-res, multi-band satellite imagery to create actionable data for farmers and corporates. Farmdar’s use of technology with remote sensing through satellites makes their growth scalable and aligns with the vision to solve a global problem of agricultural sustainability.
EzBike, an NIC Islamabad startup, which is Pakistan’s first electric bike-sharing service, raised around $1 million in its pre-seed round in May. EzBike aspires to create electric bikes in Pakistan and the company has mentioned that the pre-seed capital would be used to accelerate their growth. Moreover, the investors in the initiative include i2i Ventures, Walled City, Ground Up, and leading angels in the United States. Additionally, the company intends to use the funds to create a comprehensive environment for electric bikes and scooters.
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NIC Lahore Startup Girlythings.pk Receives Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award
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May 2022: Tanzila Khan, activist and founder of National Incubation Center Lahore incubated startup Girlythings.pk was awarded the Prince’s Trust International Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award at “The 2022 Prince’s Trust Awards” by Prince Charles in London. Girlythings, aims to make menstrual hygiene and reproductive health products more accessible for all Pakistani women, through doorstep delivery and regular workshops focused on increasing awareness.
The Prince’s Trust is a well-known charity organization established by Prince Charles and the intention of the awards is to offer financial support to the youth to further enhance their entrepreneurial efforts.
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NIC Islamabad Startup Edversity Wins Award at Unicorns Shanghai Cooperation Organization
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June 2022: Unicorns SCO is a project for supporting all startups of young people aged 18 to 35 within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. It was organized in cooperation with The Agency of Youth Affairs, The Center for Support of Youth Entrepreneurship of Uzbekistan, The Youth-Our Future Foundation, and The Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Edvertsity is an e-learning platform that is all set to not only aid the masses by providing quality education and skill-based training programs online but to revolutionize the field of education as a whole. The competition invited top startups from various countries. Other startups from NICs also participated in the competition including ‘EzWifi’ from NIC Islamabad and ‘YPay’ from NIC Karachi.
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Saudi Delegation Visits Ignite to Explore Pakistan’s Startup Ecosystem
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May 2022: A Saudi delegation headed by Mr. Abdul Rahman Mohammad A. Alghimlas, Chairman Marina Morabaha Financing Company, Mr. Jalal, CFO, Mr. Taha Abdullah A. Alebrahim, CTO and Mr. Ahmed Al Matawa, Head of Operations visited Ignite National Technology Fund along with Mr. Zain Farooq, CEO MYTM and Jawad Mahmood, Director MYTM. MYTM is a fintech startup incubated at National Incubation Center Islamabad and has raised funding of $7.2 million previously.
CEO Ignite, Asim Shahryar Husain, welcomed the delegation and briefed them about different initiatives of Ignite for boosting the startup and freelancing ecosystems of Pakistan. Mr. Abdul Rahman Mohammad A. Alghimlas took a keen interest in the success stories of various startups of Pakistan. He also appreciated the support extended by Ignite to innovative ideas of young startups across Pakistan. Delegation also visited NIC Islamabad where the delegates interacted with different startups. Delegation showed interest in Fowrry, an agribusiness startup at NIC, for future collaboration.
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Ignite’s Board Approves Launch of Innovation & Acceleration Funds for Pakistani Innovators & Startups
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June 2022: In its 91st board meeting, the board of Ignite approved the annual budget for FY 2022-23 and the revamped Research and Innovation Framework presented by the management. The proposed framework supports all of the stages of innovation from R&D on the scientific underpinnings of breakthrough technologies, to concept validation and demonstration of breakthrough technologies and innovations to meet real world needs. The evaluation of proposals will be conducted by means of review panels comprising of industry and academic experts.
Financial support will be provided through three main instruments: the ‘Challenge-driven Innovation Fund’ for solving societal challenges by applying breakthrough technologies, the ‘Technology Transition Fund’ for commercialization of proof of concept/prototypes. Ignite is also planning an acceleration fund for pre-seed funding of early stage startups in future.
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Google’s Flagship Event “Think Games” Hosted in Pakistan in Collaboration with Ignite, Game Train and Epiphany
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June 2022: The virtual gaming event spanned over two days June 21– 22, 2022 gathering the maestros from the gaming industry. The event was divided into three transitional levels from beginner to expert with an array of speakers talking about the future of gaming, latest trends and expansion. The initiatives like that of Google’s Think Games is an opportunity for us to explore and expand the untapped potential of our undercover gaming industry.
“Ignite’s center of excellence for gaming will not only incubate and accelerate but will also build the capacity of our developers to produce high quality games.” said Asim Shahryar Husain CEO Ignite while speaking at Think Games 2022. Pakistan’s Gaming industry is taking off with plenty of young developer talent, fast rising gaming companies, and a strong ambition to become a major tech exporter, Pakistan has all the ingredients to become a global player in gaming” said Farhan S. Qureshi, Google. These initiatives like Think Games 2022 will enable Pakistan to unleash its gaming potential in future.
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5 New Freelancing Courses Launched Under Digiskills 2.0
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June 2022: After the phenomenal success of DigiSkills.pk which received more than 2.2 Million enrollments in 10 courses, Ignite launched the second phase of the program with the name DigiSkills.pk 2.0 with 5 new freelancing courses. DigiSkills.pk 2.0 is offering 5 new courses in addition to the existing 10 courses that have also been updated with new content as per the current needs of the freelance community. These five new courses including Video Editing, Animation & Vlogging, Affiliate Marketing, Data Analytics & Business Intelligence, Communication & Soft Skills and Virtual Assistant will enable the youth of Pakistan to seize more freelancing opportunities available in the local and global online job market places. Pakistan’s freelancing exports had reached $400 million last year.
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3rd Floor, Telecom Foundation Complex, 7 Mauve Area, G-9/4, Islamabad
Tel : 051-9107441-6 | web : www.ignite.org.pk | Email : [email protected]
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