With a population of over 200 million, Pakistan is ripe with opportunities and is an attractive market for doing business; the country is rich with youth that possesses infectious energy and passion to pursue their ideas. The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan is rapidly growing to enhance opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to take their ideas to market.
Over the last four years, Pakistan Startup Cup has played a significant role in offering entrepreneurship empowerment and has assisted in growing businesses, entrepreneurs and ecosystems that support entrepreneurs. On an international level, Startup Cup has presence in 60 countries, has engaged 3,437 mentors, held 208 Startup Cup challenges, has contributed towards establishing 3,735 operating businesses, has helped create 43,384 jobs and has had an economic impact of over $744 million.
Pakistan Startup Cup has been declared the best edition among all the various competitions that take place worldwide. The Pakistan Startup Cup Challenge is a business model competition open to any type of business idea in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar brought to you by TiE Islamabad in collaboration with the U.S Embassy in Pakistan. TiE Islamabad, a nonprofit association dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, hosts networking events and mentors startup founders.
Winners of previous editions of Pakistan Startup Cup have emerged as major players in the startup ecosystem in the country. These include Cowlar, Patari, Ghar Par and WifiGen to name a few. During the last three editions, PKR 7.25 million has been distributed in prize money and 1800+ applications have collectively been received from all over the country. With the fourth edition, Pakistan Startup Cup 2017 is all set to break its previous records and be bigger and better than ever before!
Pakistan Startup Cup is TIE Islamabad’s flagship program and offers a reward to startups for turning their ideas into viable businesses, going to market quickly, testing assumptions, and modifying their business model, as they learn what drives customers and revenue. During the rigorous shortlisting process, startups receive mentoring and coaching from seasoned business professionals and successful entrepreneurs to improve and refine their business models. This distinct quality comes from the event organizers’ passion for seeing regular people realize their dreams by starting and building their own businesses. To date, more than 350 mentors have been engaged in coaching sessions in various cities during 3 editions of Pakistan Startup Cup and over 6500 minutes have been spent in high impact coaching sessions.
Through Pakistan Startup Cup’s mentoring and coaching model, 93% startups who participated in Pakistan Startup Cup during its 3 editions have been able to identify viable business models through the competition. Furthermore 81% startups observed improvement in their sales after going through the mentoring and coaching process. This stems from TIE Islamabad’s firm belief in investing in the business leaders of today and tomorrow through fostering an increase in creativity, imagination, and innovation because it’s vital for our long-term economic sustainability and business builders are the heroes of our time, as expressed by Murtaza Zaidi, the Executive Director of TiE Islamabad, “We’re immensely proud of how far Pakistan Startup Cup has come through the years since it started out. The winners of the competition are making waves not only in Pakistan, but also worldwide. This year, Pakistan Startup Cup is going to be bigger and better this year and we can’t wait to see all the innovative ideas startups have in store for us!”
Applications for Pakistan Startup Cup are now open. In the spirit of promoting women entrepreneurship, 50% of the shortlisted startups will comprise women-led businesses.
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