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Mobilink Discover – NUST Business Plan Competition 2014-2015 ended yesterday after a tough competition between top ten teams of each Social and Business Entrepreneurship category at NUST Business School, Islamabad. A total of 364 applications were submitted in the first round of the competition out of which 52 teams made to the second round based on their ideas and finally, 20 teams were selected for the grand finale after the submission of their detailed business plan. Additionally, a series of training workshops were also organized for the teams at Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.
The final teams selected came together from different parts of Pakistan including Bahawalpur, Lahore, Karachi, Sukkar, Islamabad for the 2-day mentoring sessions before the grand finale. The local entrepreneurs and business leaders from different startups and organizations discussed the team ideas and helped them refine their final presentations. Each team at the grand finale was allotted 8 minutes for presentation and 3 minutes for the Q&A session. The judges panel included Owais Anjum, Open Islamabad – Saleem Ranjha, Akhuwat Foundation – Hassam Hussain, Enclude and Iqbal Mustafa Khan, Sabaq Foundation.
The event was live streamed on daily motion including two panel discussions on entrepreneurship and successful stories of local entrepreneurs, teams presentations, Rector NUST address, and the certificate distribution ceremony. There were five cash prizes allocated for each category of the competition ranging from Rs. 5,00,000 to Rs. 50,000. The winning teams were announced in alphabetical order and not according to their position; the cash distribution ceremony is to be held in a separate event.
The Social Entrepreneurship track teams had great ideas and presentations, likewise business track seemed to be doing great as well. The audience couldn’t understand the fact that 4 out of 5 winnings teams from Business track were shortlisted from NUST although the ideas through the outreach program were amazing too. The results wasn’t taken very well by the audience present at the venue.
Read also: Is frugal innovation possible in Pakistani startup ecosystem?
The following are the winning teams from Social Entrepreneurship Track
Brain Masters (University of Central Punjab, Lahore) – A device which can move objects using brain signals recorded from attached electrodes for disabled patients.
Capital Valley (Institute of Business Administration, Karachi) – A crowdfunding/social networking website which will raise funds to fulfill the dreams of budding entrepreneurs and connect them with mentors through verified accounts.
Cholistani Food Street (Islamia University, Bahawalpur) – A local restaurant in Bhawalpur aimed at promoting the local traditional food made by local people of the region.
Indus Collection (Sukkur Institute of Business Administration) – An e-commerce business selling hand-made traditional clothes of Pakistan.
Messiah Foundation (National University of Science & Technology, Islamabad) – A cost effective tool for Hepatitic C diagnosis.
The following are the winning teams from Business Entrepreneurship Track
Composite Doors (National University of Science & Technology, Islamabad) – Modern doors designed to appear as wooden door but it would not faint, discolor or require any maintenance because of the materials used in it.
He’ll Meet (National University of Science & Technology, Islamabad) – A new kind of helmet with ventilation system for keeping the wearer’s head cool and compel the motorcycle rider to wear helmets in order to avoid fatal head injuries during accidents.
Lithomatic (National University of Science & Technology, Islamabad) – The startup has designed and fabricated a cost effective device to fragment urinary stones by minimally-invasive direct contact.
Nanosmart (National University of Science & Technology, Islamabad) – The startup is fighting against hospital acquired infections using herbal medicines in combination with bio- and nano- technology and Nano Disinfectant Spray is their first product.
Travly (Beacon House National University, Lahore) – A mobile application which lets you plan out intra-city bus travels by providing real-time information for the buses arriving at your nearest (and other) bus stops.
We will also cover the panel discussions on entrepreneurship and stories of successful entrepreneurs that were arranged for the audience in the Mobilink Discover grand finale. Stay tuned to TechJuice.
