The startup ecosystem is made up of more than just founders and incubation centers. Both the public and private sector at large have an important role to play in enabling and facilitating innovation and entrepreneurs with creative solutions. Pakistan Investor Summit 2020 was NIC Karachi’s initiative to bring all these stakeholders together to create a conversation around what is being done to improve the ecosystem and what to expect in the future.
The event itself was divided into two halves. The first half consisted of discussions with industry experts and investors. And the second half was allotted to the Office Hours sessions.
The first panel discussion topic was ‘Investment Climate in Pakistan: SECP’s Perspective’ where senior management from SECP consisting of Farrukh Sabzwari (Commissioner, Specialized Companies Division), Waseem Khan (Director, Specialized Companies Division), Abdul Rahim Ahmad (Director, HOD (IT)), Mubasher Saeed Saddozai (Registrar of Companies) led a discussion on the work that SECP is doing to be more inclusive of startups. Mr. Farrukh emphasized the work his team is doing to make SECP more approachable for all businesses in this new era.
The headlining panel discussion for the event was on the topic ‘Industry support for the startup ecosystem in Pakistan: A way forward’. The panelists consisted of Shahjahan Chaudhary (Project Director, NIC Karachi), Humayun Bashir (Chairman, National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited), Danish Elahi (CEO, Elahi Group of Companies), Salman Gaba (Associate, 47 Ventures Ltd.), Rabeel Warraich (CEO, Sarmayacar), Roger Dawood Bayat (Angel Investor), Ali Iqbal (General Manager, Ignite – National Technology Fund) and Amneh Shaikh-Farooqui (Founder, polly and other stories). The discussion started off with an analysis of the current state of the startup ecosystem and moved on to the changes that need to be made for it to become more welcoming for both startups and investors. Angel Investor, Mr. Roger Dawood Bayat said that he personally felt optimistic about the ecosystem in Pakistan due to investors showing more interest and better startups being created.
The discussions were attended by startups taking part in the Office Hours sessions on Zoom and audience from NIC Karachi’s Facebook page.
54 startups took part in the Office Hours sessions where 3-4 startups were latched with individual investors. Each startup received ample time to not only pitch to the investor but also have a one on one conversation they received feedback on their business and pitch. Participant, Abubakar Munawar from Compass4Restaurant thanked the NIC team for arranging the event.
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