With the historic Elsa Kazi Campus all decked out for the occasion, Hyderabad’s business tycoons, notable academia, and illustrious politicians all came together on the 12th of September to witness the official inauguration of the 6th National Incubation Center in Hyderabad by the Federal Minister of Information Technology & Telecom Syed Amin-ul-Haque.
An initiative of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoITT) and Ignite, the NIC network, operated through public-private partnerships, is being used to uplift entrepreneurial ecosystems across the country. The 2nd NIC to be launched in Sindh, NIC Hyderabad will be operated through a consortium of PTCL, LMKT, and Ideagist.
Boasting the honor of having established the largest incubation network in Pakistan, Ignite-established NICs have incubated more than 1000 startups which have gone on to raise cumulative funding of more than $73M. Aiding Ignite and MoITT in their efforts, LMKT has been operating three of the six established NICs, with many of the startups from their cohorts going on to raise impressive funding rounds.
The first cohort of startups inducted at NIC Hyderabad too have shown incredible promise from startups creating games for the Metaverse to a doctor creating wearable tech that can act as an early warning system for patients. Other brilliant ideas in their cohort include a GreenTech energy solution that aims to replace non-renewable energy generation, an AI-powered chatbot that educates people about reproductive health in their native language, an ed-tech platform teaching Web 3.0 technology to students, an agri-input marketplace for farmers and a smart contract auditing service amongst others.
Speaking on the occasion Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Syed Amin-Ul-Haque talked about how NICs have been established in line with the vision of the Government of Pakistan (GoP), for accelerated digitization and transformation of Pakistan into a knowledge-based economy to spur economic growth through innovation and entrepreneurship,
“The establishment of the National Incubation Center in Hyderabad will be a revolutionary step for the youth of Hyderabad and its surrounding rural and urban areas to transform the traditional business approach into a modern technology-oriented one”, the IT Minister added.
Representing Ignite was the General Manager – Projects Bilal Abbasi who talked about how Ignite was going to boost entrepreneurial activity even more by launching vertical incubators in animation, healthtech, and aerospace by next year while CEO -Ignite Asim Shahrayar talked about how Pakistani startups managed to prosper and prevail despite the global economic downturn by raising more than $325M in 2022.
Also present at the event representing PTCL- the key operating partner for this venture was the Group Chief Business Solutions Officer (CBSO) for PTCL & Ufone, Zarrar Hasham Khan who talked about how PTCL has always been a staunch proponent of the Digital Pakistan vision.
“We are glad to be partners with NIC Hyderabad after Peshawar. PTCL, in line with the Digital Pakistan vision, has always believed in the skills of our youth and is committed to supporting the country’s ever-growing startup sector. We believe that these upcoming young entrepreneurs not only bring innovation but also support technological advancement that will prove to be the key to taking Pakistan to the next level of economic growth and prosperity. The immense potential displayed by our youth is truly remarkable and makes us feel proud of the talent pool in the country.”
Capping it off was Project Director Syed Azfar Hussain who talked about the incredible potential that Pakistan has and how programs like these give the youth a chance to exhibit their talent while inviting entrepreneurs to join NIC Hyderabad for its soon-to-be-launched second cohort.
From the Ministry to PTCL, every one dedicated a significant portion of their speeches to appeal for the aid of citizens in helping the country rise from the recent climate catastrophe that has struck the nation. PTCL talked about its pledge to help flood affectees by dedicating around 1.75B to the cause while the Minister talked about how the government has been working tirelessly to provide aid and rehabilitation and LMKT has been helping out through a company-wide donation initiative.