Startup Weekend, one of the most anticipated events of all time in Lahore, happened this last week at the National Incubation Center in Lahore. For those who do not know, Startup Weekends are an improved version of hackathon competitions in which participants are expected to come up with an idea, form a team and develop a prototype — all on a weekend.
The National Incubation Center (NIC) Lahore partnered with the Society for Promotion and Development of Engineering and Sciences of LUMS to bring this year’s edition of the Startup Weekend.
This year, the event gathered 56 teams from across the country who came to Lahore just to pitch their business ideas in front of a panel of established entrepreneurs and corporate maestros.
After 2 days of intense preparation and elevator pitches, 21 teams out of 56 were shortlisted for the final presentations. These final presentations were to happen on the last day, i.e. the 4th of March 2018. Moreover, for the first two-quarters of the day, the teams were allowed to discuss their ideas with the judges panel and other industry veterans.
The teams also got other entrepreneurial lessons from the industry experts.
After each of the 21 teams was done with their pitches, food was served to the participants and judges.
So, without any further ado, here are the top 5 teams of the LUMS Startup Weekend 2018:
Winner: Yummystan
Yummystan was pitched by a team comprising of University of Lahore students. Yummystan was also present in PITB’s Plan 9 incubator at the start of this year. They are basically a food delivery service, working on a click-to-order basis. They boasted how they have one of the largest restaurant rosters in the market, comprising of both local and international food chains. They especially emphasized on how they’ll help expose local restaurants to the online realm by “taking them digital” through their platform.
1st Runner Up: Agarbatti Productions
This startup was pitched by students of LUMS themselves. They argued how social media had caused the decline of classical dramas and stories. Hence, they pitched creating a social media based production house which releases movies, short films, story narrations, and music etc.
They proposed getting revenue from Google’s Ad Partner services, which pays creators on a per thousand views basis. Agarbatti’s founders were firm on the stance that recreation of classic films and music would attract a large number of viewers since it targets the likes of old and young people alike. As per their estimates, a profit of roughly 1.2 million could be plowed after the 3rd year.
2nd Runner Up: Izone
Izone is an amazing startup concept for mobile users. Their startup is based on the idea of “A way of giving back”. Their team argues how users pay for using social media apps by viewing of ads placed on their home feeds and thereby, Izone aims to reward users for viewing ads.
They idea resonated with the much-acclaimed service Slide, which rewards users for the same thing. However, unlike Slide, Izone would provide these rewards in real time!
Whenever you view ads through Izone’s app, you get mobile packages in return. Izone’s app is expected to go public by the end of the coming summers. Who’s excited for free internet?!
The Audience Favorites:
Mashwara.pk
The startup revolved around tackling the mental stresses of people. They emphasized on how people adore the idea of having someone listen to them and give them advice. Well, with their startup, this concept just came online.
Their site will link up a number of psychologists and people belonging to other professions with people seeking advice. The site won’t be limited to people seeking mental relief exclusively since people seeking advice pertaining to other things will be catered to as well. For example, you need a diet plan? Get on mashwara.pk and talk to a dietician! You need an exercise plan? Get on mashwara.pk and talk to a physical instructor! Most importantly, you need career counselling? Get on mashwara.pk and talk to a counselor!
It is worth noting, they proposed recorded video sessions along with live video sessions between the adviser and the advisee, depending on the likes of the advisee.
Green Trek
Green Trek envisions an afforestation scheme that uses mere trekking sticks. They want to work towards a Pakistan which consists of sustainable development of the tourism industry. Their product was a trekking stick that plants a seed into every point of contact with the physcial ground. They developed a machine that would make special trekking sticks to perform this function.
Likewise, the trekking stick would eventually contribute to a mass afforestation scheme in the northern areas of Pakistan. Considering the tourism industry of the country is on a rise, products like these would contribute to the nature side by side with the contribution to the economy by the tourists. They also accredited the support from organizations like WWF as being very vital towards the initial development of the sticks and expressed their intention to give a 20% share in profit to each of the sponsors.
Pakistan needs more events like Startup Weekend. The entrepreneurial spirit is well present in the people of this country, it just needs to be exploited more often. LUMS Startup Weekend has proved, once again, that the Pakistani population is indeed very creative and productive IF they are given adequate opportunities to showcase their talent.
With this, TechJuice bids goodbye as the Official Media Partner of LUMS Startup Weekend 2018.
