Pakistan’s pioneer tech incubator Plan9 is now accepting applications for Launchpad 14. The Launchpad is a great platform for rising startups that have amazing tech ideas. If you have an idea that is solving a problem leveraging technology, you can Apply now in Launchpad 14 to avail the opportunity before 3^rd November 2019.

Plan9 was introduced by Punjab Information Technology Board in 2012. With more than 180 startups graduated and 13 cycles have created an impact with $5.3m investment, creating more than 1200+ jobs and $75m accumulated evaluation of all the startups.

Launchpad takes place across three major cities of Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad along with Multan, Faisalabad.

Startups which are selected in the cohort are given access to these services for six months:

• Free Office Space
• Stipend (20K per person up to 5 for 6 months)
• Networking Opportunities
• Legal Assistance
• Mentorship
• Trainings and Workshops
• Zero Equity

Launchpad 14 Eligibility Criteria

Participant team has to re-locate to Lahore for 6 months. Plan9 is an equal opportunity platform. The eligibility criteria is:

On selection, the team has to re-locate to Lahore for 6 months.

The eligibility criteria is:

• Be a Pakistani national.
• Required age is 18 years or above.
• A brilliant idea and passion.
• Present a mock-up/wire-frame/prototype of the product on the Pitching Day.
• The business idea should be based on any technology domains mentioned below.
• Mandatory attendance from 10am – 6pm for six-month incubation at Plan9.

• Having a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and a qualified Chief Technical Officer (CTO) is mandatory.
• One video of your pitch is essential to be shared (make a pitch video (demo)– upload it on YouTube and share the link). It is the last question and your application form cannot be submitted without it.

Tech Startups Domains

Your business idea much be related to tech. Your startup could be in any domain-related to technology such as:

• Consumer Tech (e-commerce)
• EdTech (Education Tech)
• FinTech (Finance Tech)
• HealthTech
• IoT (Internet of Things)
• Artificial Intelligence – AR/VR
• LegalTech
• TravelTech
• AgriTech
• Creative Online Content
• SaaS (Software as a Service)
• Mobile App
• Website
• Hardware

In the last few years, Pakistan’s startup industry has expanded immensely. We now see more and more tech startups around us. In the technology ecosystem, Pakistan is going to make a mark in the global landscape of innovation. Let’s be a part of bringing technological advancement in Pakistan.

Apply Now at http://Plan9.pitb.gov.pk/thelaunchpad/

Last date to submit applications is 3rd November 2019

The post Plan9 is Inviting Tech Startups for Its Launchpad 14 appeared first on Techlist.

File Photo: Affordable.PK Team with Salim Ghauri

Affordable.pk recently managed to bag investment on Idea Croron Ka. Idea Croron ka is the First Ever Business Reality Show of Pakistan. Affordable.pk is the Plan9’s alumni startup.

The first episode of the show was aired on 18, March. The shortlisted candidates presented themselves in front of the panel of judges that were investors and advisors.

Affordable.pk was the first startup to get in negotiation with the investors in Idea Croron Ka. Wajiha and  Kashan are the co-founders of the Affordable.pk and they were the one who persuaded the investors. The negotiation was tense but thy wer able to convince the investors to invest in the startup.

Initially Wajiha and Kashan asked for a sum of Rs. 1.5 crores and offered an equity of 15% but after much negotiation the investors agrees to invest Rs. 1 crore for an equity of 30%

The investment was made by Mr. Salim Ghauri the CEO at Netsol and Mr. Humayun Mazhar the CEO at Cres Soft.  The investment means that they get a huge sum of money through which they can proceed their dream and also get a chance to learn from expert advisors.

After the investment both Wajiha and Kashan had to say,

“We are extremely happy to have investors like Humayun Mazhar and Salim Ghauri on board. Giving a small portion of equity against their guidance and mentorship is nothing.”

Success comes after a struggle and Wajiha and Kashan have proved that. Wajiha narrates her story saying,

“Starting off with zero investment, no capital and a single computer, my husband and I initiated a digital design agency Concept beans Pvt Ltd from scratch. With undying perseverance, we eventually partnered with design agencies in USA and UK and became one of the top-rated agencies on Up work.

I am a serial entrepreneur and made head-ways after winning the 2015 WeCreate Challenge Cup for women entrepreneur. It was the turning point for me as it opened my mind to different prospects of entrepreneurship. Right in those days traditional classified e-commerce sites were facing a lot of issues and were being misused causing scams and frauds in the social community.

Being an entrepreneur I decided to take it up as a challenge and find a way to resolve it. This is how I started Affordable.pk a startup based on shared economy and reverse commerce to help the ecosystem and empower social community towards entrepreneurship.

Later we got incubated at Plan9 and things saw a great improvement from there on-wards.

What I learned through all my experience is that no matter how farfetched your dream may be, hard work makes the impossible become possible.”

The Chairman of PITB , Dr. Umar Said and the Director of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development at PITB,   Nabeel A. Qadeer had all the praise for the couple and co-founders of the Affordable.pk. They wished them a very good luck for the future  endeavors.

We also wish same for them. May they achieve much more in future.

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Nearpeer bagged an investment at 6 figure (USD) valuation from Shopistan.pk. Nearpeer is incubated by Ilm Ideas 2 and is Plan9’s startup. It is a platform for Massive Open Online Course. It offers a wide range of online video courses. These online courses are institution-specific.

The MOOC wants to promote education system in Pakistan via Al. Ammar Ali Ayub and Shahrukh Swati are behind this revolutionary idea. The two are talented alumni of LUMS. They are also its co-founders.

Ammar seemed really happy and positive about the investment. He said,

“Half a million students graduate from university annually in Pakistan but not enough jobs are created to absorb all of them. My team always had a motto; instead of becoming a burden on an overburdened economy of Pakistan, we are going to create opportunities within our economy by introducing more jobs.

Before even graduating from LUMS, we had created new opportunities for almost 22 people. Now this partnership with Shopistan will help us further this motto as we’ll be expanding into more universities and markets at an accelerated rate.”

 

There is a long list of online courses available but there is no such platform where you can find all the online courses. The problem is solved and Shahrukh was of the view,

“As a student at College and university level, I always felt the gaps in the education system. Monotonous classes, little complementary resources outside the classroom, and irrelevant and scattered online resources used to make the process difficult. Expensive MCAT/ECAT academies used to be a huge burden on my parents.

In the era where things like booking a cab, and ordering the food have been made simpler, why can’t education process made easier too? I tried, and Thanks to Allah Almighty, I succeeded. With this technology partnership we’re going to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the education system and generate great content for markets of MCAT, ECAT, O/A’Levels, FSc, and similar markets in coming two years.”

Ali Aziz also spoke about the partnership. He said,

“We are making an investor syndicate and this is our first investment in a startup. We are aiming to promote education and health in Pakistan’s ecosystem. Our main purpose is to help startups with their technology in order to enable them to focus on their business side and make the next round of raising investment easier for them.”

According to the buzz Nearpeer claims to promote O-levels, A-levels, and MCAT and ECAT markets in Pakistan. They also plan to provide free courses to the university market. The cities under research are like Multan, Bahawalpur, Sargodha etc.

Dr. Umar Saif is supporting the investor community. He said,

“It is heartening to see investors putting faith in young entrepreneurs. One after another news of investment in a startup is the validation of the fact that this startup culture is growing and will reach heights of success in near future.”

Since 2015 the Nearpeer has gained a lot of popularity. When it started it had only 1200 paying customers and 3000 users overall. Now the stats have risen to 2500 paying customers and 6200 online users.

Nearpeer is offering 55 courses and plans to offer more in the time to come. They have branches in LUMS, LSE and Chartered Accountants Market. They plan to set their feet in GIKI, PIEAS, NUST, ITU and FAST soon.

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