News, Views and Articles

The National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) SEZ Committee in its 2nd committee meeting on the 27th of June 2022, approved the entry of 23 new enterprises. Both local and foreign R&D based enterprises began entering NSTP after being launched as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), fastening its colonization process. Amongst them, 2 companies already have reached the Zone Enterprise benchmark, in the committee’s first meeting back in December 2021. The second meeting was chaired by AVM (Retd.) Dr Rizwan Riaz, Pro-Rector (RIC) NUST and VP NSTP, with officials from both federal and district administration in [...]

Xylexa is an Islamabad-based startup that has developed an artificial intelligence-powered cloud-based tool, so as to help in the early diagnosis of cancer through the use of mammograms. Instead of a radiologist studying the X-ray with the naked eye and then giving off a final verdict, CEO Xylexa Mr. Shahrukh Babar is determined to change the system and aims at producing more such inventions in the field of technology that also are economically efficient. By making use of Augmented Reality (AR) and advanced image processing, healthcare professionals gain a huge helping hand with their diagnoses. Being [...]

Director of National Science and Technology Park (NSTP), Dr. Salman Raza Naqvi was invited as a panelist at the National Conference on #WorldEnvironmentDay where he spoke about renewable energy. While speaking to the audience, Dr Salman Raza Naqvi said that sustainable renewable energy and effective solid waste management plays a pivotal role in the economic growth of any society. Considering this view, developing countries like Pakistan, are facing serious challenges in implementing renewable energy at the present time. Speaking about the policies pertaining to the subject matter, he highlighted that the Government of Pakistan should take [...]

Meenah Tariq is a VC investor turned entrepreneur - CEO and co-founder at Metric, a VC-funded fintech automating accounting for SMEs and startups in emerging markets. She is a Partner at Karavan, a Middle-east-based fund focused on early-stage startups in Pakistan. Meenah has supported thousands of entrepreneurs over the last decade, including directly training 700+ business owners, across a wide variety of industries and geographies, in Pakistan, Nepal, Iraq, and Bangladesh. She has been designing and implementing programs to practically support women entrepreneurs, encourage entrepreneurial mindsets in young people, and equip entrepreneurs with the business acumen [...]

An inaugural ceremony of HATO PAKISTAN was held on the 11th of May 2022 at the National Science and Technology Park NUST. CEO HATO Pakistan Rizwan Majeed Khan, CEO HATO Netherland Paul Obers, CEO Jadeed Group & President of World's Poultry Science Association (WPSA) Mian Jan Muhammad Javed Rathor & Deputy Head of mission embassy of Netherland Ms. Lianee Houben and First Secretary Economic Affairs Mr Paul Ederer graced the occasion. Pro-Rector Research Innovations and Commercialization (RIC) Dr. Rizwan Riaz and Director NSTP Dr. Salman Raza Naqvi were also present therein. Since its inception in 1974, [...]

The 16th Selection board for the induction of 16x teams for Hatch 8 Programme Cohort 3 was held on Thursday 14th Apr 2022 at NSTP and virtually held on Friday 15th Apr, 2022. Where 22x startups pitched their startup ideas. The Evaluation Committee evaluated the startups against a preset evaluation criterion (Personal Motivation, Team Cohesion, Market Need, Brilliance of Idea, Competitive Advantage, Knowledge Acumen, Quality of Business Plan, Economic Impact, Growth Potential).  The Evaluation Committee (Judges’ Panel) comprises of 7x Industry Experts, 6x Sectoral Experts from different schools of NUST and 7x NSTP Team members. The selection board [...]

A team from the National Science and Technology Park and NUST Placement office visited the Military College of Engineering NUST, Risalpur Campus on 10th May 2022. Dean of the College, Dr. Muhammad Irfan received the guests therein. The purpose of the visit was to hold an awareness session regarding the world of innovation and the pivotal role that NSTP has been playing in the startup ecosystem of the country. The presentation was opened by Zayn N. Qureshi, Manager Marketing & Partnership at NSTP. While sharing industry trends with students, he said, “The venture capital landscape in [...]

Faisal Aftab is the Co-Founder of Zayn Capital, a venture capital fund with a primary focus on seed-stage ventures in Pakistan. Faisal is also the Founder of BitRate Digital Assets, a Crypto Fund designed to give exposure to Institutional Investors & Family Offices. His notable investment calls in Pakistan include some of the top names in the regional startup ecosystem: GrocerApp, Bazaar-tech, Laam.pk, NayaPay, Tazah, KTrade, Truck It In, Savyour, Krave Mart, Bookme.pk, PostEX, Roomy.pk, Scribe Audio, Bagallery.com, Trellis Housing Finance, MandiExpress.pk and KnowledgePlatform.com. Previously, Faisal was a founding team member of Lakson Venture Capital (Lakson [...]

The National Science and Technology Park based at NUST H-12 Campus is home to innovation and all sorts of technological advancements. What’s even better is the opportunity to become part of the team, and that too as a student ambassador! Got any questions in mind? Follow the write-up below!   What is the NSTP Student Ambassador Programme (NSAP)? NSTP Student Ambassador Programme (NSAP) is an initiative to maximize interaction and involvement of students with National Science and Technology Park (NSTP). The ambassadors will act as a point of contact with the student body to create awareness [...]

A one-day conference was held at the NUST University, under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology on Dec 16, 2021. The purpose of the conference was to think through promotional measures for the establishment of venture capital companies so as to generate technological development and growth. A policy framework was developed as part of the Performance Agreement FY 2021-22 and 2022-23, directing the venture capital companies. Senator Shibli Faraz graced the occasion as the chief guest.  Other guest stakeholders included the Federal Board of Revenue, Securities and Exchanges Commission of Pakistan, the State [...]