News, Startups

Seed Out: Vision to Create Sustainability!

Written by Nuzhat Sheikh ·  3 min read >
test

At last, a highly anticipated startup, whose sole purpose is to alleviate poverty has rolled out this fall. Seed Out, World’s first Islamic crowd funding website that aims to enlarge the impact of Islamic crowd funding, was launched on 7th-Dec-2013, in Lahore, Pakistan.The startup planned to fix the funding problem through innovative crowd-funding. Curious what crowdfunding is?

quote1

While heaps of social networking sites are persistently showing up. A young renowned Serial-Entrepreneur “Zain Ashraf” with a remarkable approach, took the initiative, to establish a platform where we can play a significant role in lives of so many people that need us and who we might have forgotten in the everyday marathon of moving ahead.

quote2

He started several other ventures at a very young age. People tried to convince him that this was the age to concentrate on his career and he was too young to run a Non-profit. Yet, all he wanted is to impact lives of others in a better way. Seed Out is just doing the right thing!

At Seed Out, you can reach out to people easily and support them on fiscal issues with a quicker, easier and benefiting way that could diminish poverty globally and create sustainability.Though there already exist crowdfunding websites, Seed Out has the privilege to be known as the World’s First Islamic Crowd funding website.

 What does Seed Out?

Seed Out is a registered NPO and an internationally affiliated platform where anyone could donate or fund to micro-entrepreneurs of their own choice, helping them to grow their small businesses. The money that is funded to specific people or projects, don’t go as a hand cash. Seed Out carry out their projects by starting businesses for them, ensuring that your small contribution will really make a difference. As enterprises grow, entrepreneurs are raised.

More than 50 potential micro-entrepreneurs’ projects have been published at Seed Out website. One can easily find a suitable project and can contribute as little as 15 dollars to their startups or growing business. The process is quite simple; Browse profiles of entrepreneur, fund them directly to their small enterprise, follow their progress, right from your home. You can help Seed Out in alleviating poverty by making small contributions. For more info

Seed Out team is making quite an impact by offering internship and volunteer programs. More than 50 people (including employees and volunteers) are working hard day and night to achieve the goal. The day the website launched, it had over 30,000 traffic. Their future hopes are high, started from Punjab, they are looking forward to cover whole of Pakistan and soon they’ll be going to the neighbouring under developed countries.

On 1st-Jan-2014 they are starting their volunteer program with 250 students. They will make  50 teams of students, each consist of 5 volunteer students. The teams will be given one project each to get funding, case studies and execution of the business. The winner team with most funded projects will be sent abroad for a fellowship program. Interesting ! isn’t it ?

Moreover, Seed Out is looking to impact 5000 individuals by the end of 2014 through their innovative crowd funding.

Poverty is one of the challenging issues globally. Bringing economic stability in today’s era sounds more like a dream. But if you invest wisely, this dream is probable to become a reality. Start making investment in growing businesses, startups. You don’t need a reason to help someone.

Sow a Seed, Grow a Fruitful Tree 

Poverty and unemployment are a reciprocal disfavor. This was a huge concern that needed scrutiny to put an end. If you continue to supply charity, people hardly make an effort to earn modestly. To come out of the poverty trap, Funders must invest in that which could thrive. Seed Out’s distinct methodology lets you fund directly to an entrepreneur in the developing world, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. You would find lots of variety of projects to fund at Seed Out. For instance, a girl wants to open her beauty salon, so that, she could support her family financially. A man wants to own a stationary store but doesn’t have enough money that he could set off. You can track these people and fund them easily on the website. These exclusive and many other fascinating projects can be found on Seed Out. For more projects.

Implant a seed today, see it growing, when it would be full-fledged, our own eco system would readily be created.

Zakat:

Zakat as an Islamic procedure has been practiced within Muslim communities, since the early days of its revelation as obligatory. Muslims are supposed to give 2.5% Zakat on their assets. Seed Out made it even easier to calculate an estimated amount one is supposed to give on a particular asset. Check the Tool

Who would have thought before of such a unique procedure of donating Zakat? Seed Out is making a real difference in implementing our own Islamic ideologies, in a systematic and more benefiting way.

Uplifting story behind the upright initiative

Throughout Zain’s life, he saw his mother giving money to the poor but it was always inadequate that needy people could make a decent living out of it. He saw the same faces frequently coming to his mom, asking for money. He was curious about, why do we give man a fish?  Why don’t we teach him how to fish? This led him to channelize properly, how implementing our own Islamic funding practice in an innovative way can have an impact in alleviating poverty. A great startup!

Zain’s superb prudence would certainly change the lives of so many individuals in the following years. Our best wishes for Seed Out.

A booming Pakistan is inevitable!

Written by Nuzhat Sheikh
An Engineering student who wants to explore Universe. She'd travelled to Mars 'in her fantasy'. Avid reader and researcher, She's a keen knowledge-seeker. You'll find her helpful. Follow her @NutzNb at twitter. Profile