Lahore, December 31, 2020: The National Incubation Centre Lahore (NICL) at LUMS is on a renewed mission to contribute to Pakistan’s economic development by promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Its latest initiative, the ‘Entrepreneur in Conversation’ series, features some of Pakistan’s brightest entrepreneurial minds discussing their innovative solutions tocombat the country’s many challenges.
The
talks are helmed by Saleem Ahmad, Chairman NICL. “We hope that these informal
and interactive sessions will serve as an opportunity to learn from
entrepreneurs who are solving Pakistan’s big problems, and thereby creating
lasting impact. In the process, we hope to inspire a generation of young
problem-solvers who can learn from these entrepreneurs’ path-breaking journeys,”
Mr. Ahmad commented.
Through
this series, NICL is aiming to provide young entrepreneurs a platform to engage
directly with industry leaders and learn first-hand from their start-up
journeys. The speaker series highlights theirfailures and successes,and more
importantly,how they overcame challenges to create enduring success.These
innovators, disruptors, and visionaries have succeeded in impacting industries,
and have built companies that are positively changing the way society operates.
These talks are available on NICL’s Facebook page and websites.
The
inaugural session, held on December22,featured UsmanJavaid, Co-Founderand CEO
of Ricult Inc.,who talked about his journey of establishing an agriculture
technology start-up. This LUMS and MIT-educated innovator is transforming the
agriculture sector by helping farmers escape the cycle of poverty, through the use of data analytics, which supports
financial inclusion for smallholder farmers in Pakistan and Thailand.
The second talk on December 28, showcasedthe
experiences of an artificial intelligence expert and NICL
Advisory Board member, Dr.Ayesha Khanna, Co-Founder and CEO of ADDO AI. Named
one of South East Asia’s groundbreaking female entrepreneurs, Dr. Khanna is not
only a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence, smart cities and fintech
to leading corporations and governments, but also a published author and a
featured speaker at major financial and technology conferences.She spoke about
Pakistan’s opportunity for advancement with AI and passionately advocated for
gender parity in technology.
The
third talk, held on December 30, withQasifShahid, CEO and Co-founder of Finja,a
fintech start-up and member, NICL Foundation Council,had Mr. Shahid share how
his company is digitally disrupting and democratising lending in a PKR 10
trillion Pakistani market with very low penetration levels. He broke the news about
Finja’s successful US$9 million raise from bluechipfintech funds who have
invested in Pakistan for the first time.
Upcoming
sessionswill featureSuneelSarfrazMunj, Co-Founder of PakWheels.com, on January
1, and Shabahat Ali Shah, CEO, National Information Technology Board on January
4.
Additionally,
NICL has further strengthened its Foundation Council (FC) with experts in
agriculture, financial inclusion, e-commerce, and venture investment.The new
members include Faisal Aftab, Managing Partner and Executive Director of
Lakson Venture Capital, who has over 15 years of investment experience, and is
a limited partner of 500 Startups, a
Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund, and a Board Member of many Pakistan
based start-ups, including Bookme.pk, MandiExpress.pk, KnowledgePlatform.com,
Bagallery.com and Roomy.pk.
LUMS alum, Usman Javaid,Co-Founder and CEO of Ricult Inc., has
also joined the FC. Mr. Javaid has extensive corporate experience in Pakistan
with Engro, Nestle and Telenor, where he was part of the team that launched
EasyPaisa.
BadarKhushnood,
Co-Founder of Fishry.com, a B2C and DTC e-commerce platform empowering
businesses and artisans across Pakistan, will also strengthen the FC, with his experience
of co-founding Bramerz, a leading full-service digital media and marketing
company. He was also the first domestic consultant to global technology
companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter, and serves as an
Executive-in-Residence (EIR) at LUMS where he is helping curate
the MS in Technology Management & Entrepreneurship programme.
The
Foundation Council, together with the NIC Advisory Board, will provide guidance
to the Foundation Programme by helping coach, mentor and train its sixth cohort
of aspiring entrepreneurs. At present 37 start-ups from Lahore and 20 at
BUITEMS in Quetta have been inducted to NICL’s Foundation Programme, which
comprises a redesigned curriculum delivered by LUMS faculty and international
technical experts across six intensive bootcamps.
Funded
by Ignite, the Foundation is an immersive six-month long programme designed to
help young Pakistani entrepreneurs develop their ideas into an investor-ready
business plan and benefit from a network of experts and business leaders,
culminating in a capstone Investor Summit.
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