KARACHI – The IBA Entrepreneurship Society in collaboration with IBA Center for Entrepreneurial Development is proud to have hosted the biggest student-held entrepreneurship competition in Pakistan.
Teams from Peshawar, Islamabad, Quetta, Faisalabad and Hyderabad have joined the IBA Entrepreneurship Society in Karachi to participate in a month-long endeavor packed with a wide range of entrepreneurial activities which majorly involved a startup competition, with mentoring sessions and workshops.
This April witnessed and discovered the most brilliant and brightest startups of Pakistan which had competed in the following four categories:
- Technological and information systems
- Health and Agriculture
- Shell Tameer Social and STEM Education
- General and traditional
Winners and runners-up of all categories competed for the prize money which was worth up to Rs1 million. Registration of teams and the first two screening process of the startups was conducted through online rounds on the INVENT portal.
The final round included the 35 finalist teams from all tracks to fly to Karachi and present their ideas in front of the esteemed judges’ panel. Judges then examined each start-up and selected winners and runners-ups, who were awarded cash prizes.
Shell Pakistan, Furor, Nabi Qasim Group of Industries and XORD.one were the sponsors of this event along with academic support from different institutions like The Nest I/O, UNDP, Al-Hamd Academy and TIE Islamabad.
The workshop sessions on Day 1 of INVENT included speakers such as Sameer Ahmed Khan from Social Group, and Saba Khalid from Aurat Raaj.
Sameer Ahmed Khan conducted a session on social media marketing, vision, and customer segmentation.
Dr. Shahid Qureshi, the Program Director for the IBA Aman Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, held a workshop on the latest Entrepreneurial Trends and discussed about how every person is unique in his abilities and can do wonders if he trusts his inner self.
This was then followed by Ms. Saba Khalid’s session on Elevator Pitches which helped the participants with their own elevator pitches the following day. Day 1 concluded with a very informal tea break and mentoring session which took place in IBA’s dining hall.
Day 2 consisted mostly of the Elevator Pitches from the contestants who were judged by entrepreneurs who specialize in that particular field. Mr. Kamran Siddiqui, a leading professional in the oil and gas industry, conducted a special talk based solely on how to lead a team.
The day also consisted of various informative sessions headed by our sponsors such as XORD.com and Shell Tameer. Mr. Habib Haider, Country Head of External Relations for Shell Pakistan also gave his kind remarks in the closing ceremony and distributed the cash prizes for the winners of the Shell Tameer Social and STEM Education category.
The guest of honor for the closing ceremony was Dr. Farrukh Iqbal, Executive Director of IBA Karachi, who also shared a few words with the audience and described how the IBA takes entrepreneurship very seriously so much so that there is an entire program dedicated to it.
The winning teams were awarded cash prizes in the following fashion:
Shell Tameer Social and STEM Education
1st Winner (Rs. 100,000): Green Energy Revolution Now
2nd Winner (Rs. 75,000): Lets Home
3rd Winner (Rs. 50,000): The Walkway School
Technology and Information Systems
1st Winner (Rs. 100,000): Leekwall
2nd Winner (Rs. 50,000): Enent
General and Traditional
1st Winner (Rs. 100,000): Satrariyun
2nd Winner (Rs. 50,000): She Bakes
Health and Agriculture
1st Winner (Rs. 100,000): SMT (Self-Management Training)
2nd Winner (Rs. 50,000): Mukhlis Fertigo
The event ended with a formal dinner for the participants, judges, and management team members.
