The following press release was submitted by the organizers of Entrepreneurship World Cup Pakistan.
Lahore, Pakistan – The Entrepreneurship World Cup Pakistan National Finals were held on November 24, 2022 by Innovation District 92, at Arfa Software Technology Park, in collaboration with Regional Plan9. During the hybrid event, the top 16 startups from the semifinals pitched both physically and online. A panel of six experts and investors from the industry evaluated the startups and mutually decided the top three that would continue their journey to the global finals. The event was covered by local media channels and was attended by an audience of over 150.
The top three finalists are MyTM, Agridunya and GGDEN.
MyTM is empowering retailers and consumers by providing a one-stop solution to cater to their financial and banking needs. They are also providing financial institutions and EMIs SaaS services around the world including QA testing, middleware development, and cybersecurity solutions.
AgriDunya is an agritech (B2B) marketplace platform that predominantly solves the challenges being faced by farmers and vendors, by supplying input products (fertilizer, pesticides, seeds, etc.) to them on-demand at their doorsteps.
GGDEN is a startup in the gaming and live streaming industry with the motto: "play, stream, earn and grow." The finalists emerged victorious from a pool of 700+ contestants who applied – each receiving access to free virtual training services and up to $25,000 in perks to help them take their venture to the next level. In preparation for the EWC Global Finals, the finalists will participate in a bootcamp which features virtual training and mentoring sessions targeted to their company’s current stage and growth trajectory.
The top 100 Global Finalists will receive $100,000 worth of in-kind services and support from service providers such as AWS, Freshworks, Oracle, Hubspot, Stripe and Segment.
Global finalists also gain automatic entry into the GEN Starters Club, an invitation-only community of talented founders from around the world. Other finalists in the EWC Pakistan National Finals included:
- Oval (Karachi), a Web3 blockchain startup providing cutting-edge enterprise solutions to change the way things are done in finance, real estate, education and other sectors, by leveraging the power of blockchain and the Metaverse.
- Nooks.pk (Lahore), a startup that is one stop, end-to-end accommodation solution for people traveling to big cities for education or jobs. It is the first-ever digital property management system in Pakistan that is working on end- to-end accommodation management in the hospitality sector.
- Tibbi (Lahore), a health tech platform that focuses on optimizing the out-patient experience by servicing all patient touch points. It provides 24/7 affordable instant telemedicine consultations, medicine delivery, diagnostic services at the doorstep and medical procedures by leveraging a network of partners and Tibbi health centers aiming to strengthen the primary healthcare structure of the country.
- Xylexa (Pvt) Ltd (Islamabad), a startup developing a computer-aided diagnostics (CADx) platform. The company uses artificial intelligence and image processing approaches to assist caregivers with automated, accurate, timely, and cost-effective medical image diagnosis.
- Boltay Huroof (Karachi), a startup that aims to provide accessible and inclusive reading material for the visually impaired, by prioritizing innovation and a culture of empathy and inclusivity. The company's goal is to solve educational and social exclusion challenges and open doors of opportunities for its target market.
- CopyPencil (Lahore), a one-stop shop e-commerce solution for schools, institutes, parents and students.
- Dollat Inc. (Karchi), a youth-focused "freelancing ecosystem" bringing foreign opportunities and expenditure into the local economy through localized payment gateways, premium personalized service, and underage working support.
- Carvan Tech Private Limited (Karachi), a tech platform that connects people from the same community to enable them to leverage the sharing economy.
- Tensorminds Private Limited (Karachi), a startup that focuses AI-powered automation to improve ground-level functions and tasks, information flow and exchange, creating new, exciting data out of existing business data through deep learning for unprecedented insights, and introducing convenient means to deliver information to end users and customers.
- Speedoy (Karachi), a startup that provides tech and market facilitation to food businesses. The platform provides a website and mobile apps which they can use to accept online orders and grow their business.
- Sauda Store Private Limited (Karachi), a startup that facilitates workers who are living pay cheque to pay cheque, to buy groceries on credit from neighborhood retailers through informal credit accounts. Sauda Store offers financial support and options to buy monthly groceries on credit through an app and pay after 30 days without additional charges.
- Edversity (Gujranwala), an e-learning platform creating next-generation technology entrepreneurs by equipping youth, students, and women with highly affordable, effective, accessible, and modern technology-focused skills education, enabling them to launch their remote careers in tech.
- BreatheIO (Lahore), a startup that aims to create products that promote the wellbeing and longevity of human life. BreatheIO is the world’s Smartest Air Purifier that utilize the power of Artificial Intelligence to reduce and control the Air Pollution.
Judges for the competition were:
- Faisal Sherjan, Managing Partner, Sustainabl Advisory LLP
- Abrar ul Haq, Co-founder, Tazah Technologies Private Limited
- Syed Ommer Amir, Founder and CEO, Daastan
- Fatima Mazhar, Founder and Managing Partner, Eman Corporation
- Mughees Tahir, Senior Program Manager, Punjab Information Technology Board
- Muneed Ahmed, Deputy Director, CMACED
Since launching in 2019, the competition has attracted 400,000 registrations from 200 countries and connected founders with over US$3M in cash prizes and another US$256M worth of perks and free support and services.
Global Finalists will face off against one another in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in March 2023. EWC is an initiative led by the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Monsha’at, with support from a collection of national and global partners including One Valley, The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF), Entrepreneurs’ Organization, KAUST and Startup Genome.