Nust graduate Harris Ahmed’s XR and AI venture, incubated at Nicat, beats a global field at Plug and Play’s flagship event as the government calls it proof of a maturing startup ecosystem.
Pakistani startup RLabs has won the “GOAL Startup Award” at the Silicon Valley November Summit in California, the latest sign that homegrown deep tech companies are starting to earn recognition on global stages. The government on Saturday hailed the win as showcasing the “growing strength of our startup ecosystem.”
What happened
The summit ran from November 2 to 5 and was organised by Plug and Play, an innovation platform and venture capital firm. RLabs was one of 18 startups from around the world selected to pitch under Plug and Play’s Global Overseas Acceleration & Learning (GOAL) programme, and it took home the top award from that group.
The event was centred on artificial intelligence and deep tech. According to founder Harris Ahmed, it brought together more than 3,000 attendees, including founders, venture capitalists, corporate executives, innovation leaders and government partners, with live demonstrations and pitches from over 300 startups across more than 20 industry programmes.
Who is behind RLabs
RLabs is led by Harris Ahmed, a 2018 graduate of the National University of Sciences and Technology (Nust), according to his professional profile. The startup was incubated at the National Incubation Centre for Aerospace Technologies (Nicat).
Ahmed said he presented the company’s work on extended reality (XR) simulators, synthetic data and machine training. On LinkedIn he wrote that he has “spent the last decade teaching humans how to operate complex machines in XR,” and that the company now applies the same human experience to training machine instincts. He added that RLabs is launching in the US soon.
The technology
According to Nicat, RLabs has been training a proprietary Large Language Model to power a modular, cross-platform simulation engine. The incubator says the engine cuts development time by 75 per cent. That figure comes from Nicat and has not been independently verified.
The pitch sits at the intersection of two fast-moving areas: simulation and synthetic data, which are increasingly used to train AI systems without relying on expensive real-world data collection.
Government reaction
IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja called the win a “moment of immense pride” for her ministry and for its tech innovation arm, Ignite, in a statement also shared on the government’s official X account. “From Pakistan to Silicon Valley — a proud moment for our nation!” she wrote.
She said the achievement reflects the “extraordinary potential of Pakistani talent,” and reaffirmed the government’s vision that “Pakistani startups should not just compete globally, but help shape the future of technology.” She congratulated Ahmed and the RLabs team, adding that she hoped this would be one of many more success stories.
Why it matters for the startup landscape
The win arrives during an active stretch for Pakistan’s startup ecosystem on the policy and infrastructure side:
- National Technology Park: On October 10, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formally inaugurated the renamed Daanish IT Park (National Technology Park). It is described as the country’s first national technology facility and brings incubation centres, innovation hubs, SMEs, startups and industry leaders under one roof.
- World Bank funding: Under its “Pakistan Entrepreneurship and Private Investment Catalyst Project,” the World Bank is expected to seek executive board approval in early 2027. The project would help the government establish and capitalise a $50 million Fund of Funds to catalyse Pakistan’s nascent innovation and venture capital ecosystem.
- Global recognition for founders: Earlier this year, the co-founders of Singapore-based Plouton AI, Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai and Sarfraz Shahid Hussain, secured a place on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in the finance and venture capital category. Their company builds an agentic automation platform that helps midmarket companies automate finance workflows.
The bigger picture
RLabs’ win is notable because it comes from a deep tech company rather than a consumer or e-commerce play, an area where Pakistan has historically had fewer international success stories. It also highlights the role of state-backed incubators like Nicat in taking technical ventures from campus-linked talent to global stages. What remains to be seen is whether recognition at events like this converts into funding, customers and the US launch Ahmed has teased.
Source: News Desk. Award, event and company details are based on statements by RLabs, Nicat and the Ministry of IT.
