News, Views and Articles

A one-day conference on ‘Fostering Entrepreneurship through Incubation’ was arranged by NSTP (National Science and Technology Park). The purpose of the conference was to bring together international and national stakeholders from Incubators, Accelerators, Associations, Co-working spaces and Entrepreneurs on a single platform to enhance the outcome of the incubation programs in Pakistan. Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, was present as the Chief Guest at the conference. Since its inception, NSTP has been committed to simulating and nurturing innovation-led germination and growth of hi-tech entities. Continuously undertaking conferences, trainings and [...]

Innovator Seed Fund (ISF) is an initiative of HEC’s Higher Education Development Programme (HEDP) that aims at engaging entrepreneurs and upcoming aspirants who want to convert their business ideas into action. Under ISF, a package of support and seed funding is awarded to early-stage start-ups through HEC-recognised Business Incubation Centres (BICs) at universities. Under ISF, HEC conducted the pitching competition for 26 start-up applicants out of which 4 startups were from NSTP Incubator, TechOne, which have been shortlisted from a pool of 186 applicants. Startups from TechOne Incubator that won seed funds include Ez Geyser, mimAR, [...]

Orbit is an augmented reality-based interactive learning tool that empowers classrooms with real-time stimulation to strengthen the students’ learning processes. The startup has recently raised seed funding from Boost VC. Below are the excerpts of the talks with the founders of the startup with Manager Innovation, Yaruq Nadeem.    Yaruq Nadeem: What were your career goals at the beginning? Naveera: Well, ending up with a startup never really was on my to-do list. I wanted to have a good job and that was pretty much it, at the beginning. Wajeeha: Same goes for me. I wanted [...]

3x NSTP-based startups have made it to being presented to the Middle East Market at GITEX Global this year, which include XpertFlow, Orbit, and Data BI. GITEX Global is the world’s largest tech gathering, inculcating the show of global products and solutions with diverse industry applications. XpertFlow is a startup focused on developing decision support systems for healthcare professionals. Comprising both software (AI Model) and hardware (Medical IOTs), the product can predict Sepsis six hours before onset and other life-threatening medical conditions from a single wearable biosensor device. All in all, it reduces the mortality rate [...]

Ms. Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the British Parliament visited NSTP, accompanied by Lord Wajid Khan of the UK House of Lords, the Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government and Housing, on October 3, 2022.  They were received by Dr Rizwan Riaz, Pro-Rector Research, Innovation & Commercialization, and the ensuing meeting provided them with a detailed briefing about NUST’s flagship project, in the name of the Park. They were provided with visits to the Hi-Tech labs as well as various multinational companies within.The guests expressed their appreciation for NSTP’s R&D ecosystem [...]

LearnOBots is implementing the largest STEAM deployment in public schools in Pakistan through a public-private partnership. The flagship STEAM product LearnOSTEAM will be empowering 200 schools, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students in 14 districts of Gilgit Baltistan. The province is targeted because schools therein are remote and in hard-to-reach areas. The first maker space has also been launched that shall be expanded to hundreds of other schools. Chief minister GB Mr. Khalid Khurshid, Chief Secretary GB Mr. Mohyuddin Wani and CEO LearnOBots Mr. Faisal Laghari inaugurated the maker space. Once successfully completed here, this [...]

A female-led startup, Orbit-Ed from NSTP, raised a $500k investment from the Silicon Valley investor, Boost VC, earlier this year, bringing their total pre-seed funding to $800,000. Boost VC is an early-stage VC firm founded and run by Adam Draper that invests in pre-seed startups accelerating the Sci-Fi Future that includes aerospace, energy, virtual reality, and other tech-related verticals. Orbit-Ed is the first startup from Pakistan operating in the local market to secure money from Boost VC and the second entirely female-led startup from Pakistan to secure venture capital. The startup is a gamified learning platform with [...]

The 17th Selection Board of NSTP brought about 36 companies to the surface, out of which 7 were called for the pitch before the board based on their respective average scores. Each of these shortlisted companies went through a series of rigorous screenings and selection processes, pitching themselves to a team of experts from the industry and academia so as to become part of the innovative system of NSTP. Five out of the total were recommended for office space at NSTP. The selection board was chaired by Dr. Rizwan Riaz, Pro-Rector RIC NUST and Vice President [...]

A Pakistani Startup, which has taken inspiration from China’s JD.com has managed to raise seed funding from scores of investors including the PayPal founder Peter Thiel. Securing a funding of $7.9 million, PriceOye has managed to consolidate its position as the leading electronics marketplace in the country. This is Peter Thiel’s first investment to name in Pakistan. The round was led by US-based JAM Fund while additional investors amongst many included Beenext, Tokopedia, DG Daiwa, Mantis VC, HOF Capital, Jet.com’s investor Palm Drive Capital, and Atlas Ventures. Additionally, notable unicorn founders Peter Thiel, Mercury Bank’s Immad [...]

Vladimira sits on the advisory boards of a number of impact businesses including Colorintech, Prospero World and angel-invests, including NUR, a mindfulness platform for the Arab world. She is a frequent speaker on topics related to entrepreneurship as a force of good, entrepreneurial mental health and opportunities across emerging markets. She often coaches businesses leaders on how to design healthy and high-performing cultures and she spent a significant time in growing the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Central and Eastern Europe, London and East Africa. She has also engaged in public policy-making at global forums including the European [...]