Innovate and Lead: Pakistani startups with brilliant ideas

“Having a career is a 21st century fad. There is so much more you can do. You can be the odd one out, the Mad Hatter, you can be curious, you can fix a problem your ‘very’ own way, and you can afford to care less about the status quo,” says Rizwan Chand, CTO/ co-founder at VIVID Technologies, a UK based Pakistani startup that has qualified for Blackbox Connect 2014 and has secured 30 million rupees seed funding from UK investors. Blackbox Connect is an initiative by ‘Google for Entrepreneurs’. It’s a two week program, where startups from outside the US are brought to Silicon Valley and given a chance to interact with like-minded entrepreneurs, executives and investors through intensive workshops and meetings. Another Pakistani startup named ‘SMSall’ has also been selected for the spring 2014 session. Eyedeus Labs (the LUMS graduates behind the famous Groopic app) and TunaCode (data encryption, imaging and computer vision experts) were amongst the eight startups selected last year. This annual opportunity was initiated when Blackbox Connect signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Plan9, a Pakistani tech incubator initiative. Plan9 has helped shape 32 startups of various scales so far. It has a comprehensive 9-tier incubation process. This includes provision of office facilities, monthly stipend for six months, financial and soft skill trainings, a board of advisors, a technical board, legal advisors, one-on-one mentorship meetings, mock pitches, and networking opportunities with angel investors and venture capitalists. “Since tech startups are a recent phenomenon in Pakistan, there are many brilliant yet untapped ideas. Entrepreneurs should stop chasing the press, focus on their product and let the work speak for itself,” comments Hafsa Shorish, Marketing and PR Manager at Plan9, when asked about the biggest advantage of starting a business in Pakistan. Business incubators have been around for quite a while now, but what makes tech incubators so dynamic is the global nature of the resultant products. A small team with a great idea, given the necessary business, networking and marketing support, could become an international success in a matter of months. Another great arena for young entrepreneurs to showcase their idea is the P@sha LaunchPad, organised every year by Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) for the IT and ITES sectors, to find the best technology ideas/start-ups and bring them in front of experts. The platform not only highlights new products, services and ideas, but also provides instant gratification through the winning product/service’s marketing as well as a cash prize of 200,000 rupees for the following categories: Innovate idea for an ICT product/service Startup with an innovative ICT product/service Innovative idea which uses ICT for social impact The idea is not just to host a competition, but also a networking opportunity for growing businesses to connect with industry leaders and trendsetters.