Plan9 arranged an alumni reunion of founders from cycle 1 to 14, on 28th February 2019 at Arfa Tower. ‘Alumni Homecoming 2020’ was the first time ever a get together of Plan9’s startup founders was arranged at such a big scale and we got an amazing response. Representation from every cycle was there. In the last 7 years of Plan9’s existence, we have seen so many successful startups come out and a few who could not make it. But we do not consider them failures, we highly regard them for being confident and brave enough to take the plunge and taste the flavour of entrepreneurship.
With an audience of over 100 people, the event was full of laughter, nostalgia, music, food and a lot of inspiration. With more than 60 startup founders, Plan9 alumni team and staff this was an evening to remember for a very long time. Plan9 has one of the strongest alumni bases in any tech incubator of Pakistan. With all the success stories and inspiring founders, it is a huge network in itself.
Gone are the days when “Startup” concept was not praised much. Time has changed and with the passage of time Plan9 has evolved. This evolution has seen its own hardships. We have learned from our mistakes and are still evolving for better and bigger projects. We have investors, academia and other stakeholders who are now aiding Plan9 to facilitate innovation – an exciting time for the industry.
The event started off with the Plan9 team welcoming all the attendees. Later all the founders reminisced over old memories, they interact with each other and networked. Mr. Salman Amin – Director Entrepreneurship and Hammad Khalique – Program Manager gave brief welcome notes and speeches. An alumni founder also dedicated a poem to Plan9 written by himself which was all about the struggles a startup founder face during their time and it was immensely nostalgic.
‘I thank you all for joining us to celebrate entrepreneurship, we are proud of every founder who is or was a part of Plan9. It is because of your contribution that the startup ecosystem of Pakistan has made its mark globally. Plan9 is what it is because of you all!” – Hammad Khalique
‘It is great to see you all here tonight, I can feel the entrepreneurial spirit in the air. As we all know entrepreneurship is a journey and we are glad that Plan9 could play a role in your journey. We have open door policy, let us know if you need any sort of help from us any time and we will be there for you.” – Salman Amin
The evening ended with a lavish dinner followed by photography sessions. We had arranged special souvenirs for them as a token of thanks for taking the time out to attend.
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