Year
2015 is just around the corner as 2014 fades away amidst the buzz and
blare of local and international technological achievements,
disruptions, country’s unfortunate political turmoil, and
end-of-the-year hopes and promises.
While
we saw news and events of both positive and negative essence, it is,
however, the most appropriate time to look back at all the good that
came out throughout the year to appreciate what we achieved, the
individuals who made it all happen, and actuate ourselves to strive for
even more the next year.
Here
is our pick of the news that we consider will have a lasting impact on
the IT sector and entrepreneurial ecosystem of the country.
1. The Launch of 3G/4G Services
After facing countless unfortunate delays in the preceding years, a strong stance of
the Ministry of IT and PTA finally resulted in a successful auction of
3G and 4G network licenses. The auction was hosted online by Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and the process fortuitously
completed in a single business day without any hiccups.
Although
the raised sum was slightly less than PTA’s optimistic expectations, it
amounted to $1.112 billion nonetheless—a decent boost for the economy,
and telecom sector in particular.
2. LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship Launch
LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship was
launched earlier this year to formalize the institute’s support for
entrepreneurial ventures. LCE is an independent center under LUMS’
umbrella that is run by a dedicated, seasoned management team.
LCE
aims to provide a full-fledge experiential development platform for
local startups that includes scouting for promising entrepreneurs, The
Foundation incubator, state-of-the-art co-working space through Plug ‘n
Play centers, mentoring sessions, networking opportunities, and funding
through the Foundation Fund.
3. PlanX Launch
Pakistan’s
first technology incubator Plan9 was one of the most important
initiatives from Punjab Information Technology Board to support the
country’s fledgling entrepreneurial ecosystem. FollowingPlan9’s tremendous success,
PITB followed-up with the launch of a startup accelerator and fittingly
named it PlanX. With the mission-statement ‘Putting startups into
orbit’, PlanX aims to empower commercially-viable mid-stage startups by providing them adequate networking, mentoring and funding exposure.
The
first batch of startups recently graduated from the center and the
names of startups that qualified for the second cycle’s intake were announced in September.
4. Pakathon Happened in 16 Cities
Founded
by passionate Pakistanis with an aim to brainstorm solutions for social
and entrepreneurial problems faced by their countrymen, Pakathon organizes
global events, seminars, meet-ups, partnerships, and workshops around
the year. Pakathon also works to help distributed teams using global
collaboration of mentors and participants and, in the long run, change
the perception of Pakistan as an entrepreneur-friendly and
socially-stable nation in the world’s view.
Keeping
the same mission statement in focus, Pakathon organized a global event
that simultaneously took place in 16 urban destinations. From Sukkur to
Silicon Valley, students, entrepreneurs, and mentors pitched their ideas
with enough potential to be transformed into feasible solutions to
alleviate social issues faced by Pakistanis in domains such as
Retailing, Inclusiveness, Health, E-commerce and Mobile Banking, Broken
Systems, Security, and Education etc.
5. P@SHA Announced ‘The NEST i/O’ Incubator
Pakistan
Software Houses Association, at the event of P@SHA ICT Awards 2014,
announced that it will be launching a technology incubator in Karachi.
With
the assistance of Samsung, Google, and US State department, The Nest
i/O technology incubator will serve 50 technology startups and house 700
technology entrepreneurs in a dedicated co-working space through its
first year. The base funding for the initiative was announced to be 1.37
million during the event and the project partners will contribute more
in terms of financial and technical support as it progresses.
Definitely
a welcome addition to the country’ nascent entrepreneurial environment,
The Nest i/O will help local startups gain the momentum and exposure
they deserve.
6. International Investment in Pakistani Startups
2014
was a great year for local startups; the best yet, we might add. Not
only a number of promising tech and social startups took flight this
year, but also succeeded in scoring worldwide renown and funding. Apart
from the untiring efforts of local entrepreneurs, the role and
importance of local tech incubators and accelerators in the overall
scenario cannot be overstated.
A
number of Pakistani startups, most prominently the graduates of Plan9
incubator and PlanX accelerator, received funding from international
angel investors and venture capital firms. Eyedeus Labs, BookMe.pk, FRAG
Games, Zameen.com, and Markhor (previously Hometown Shoes) are only a
few of these startups.
7. Rocket Internet Expanded Multiple Ventures to Pakistan
Germany-based
startup incubator and venture capital firm, Rocket Internet, is known
for funding and expanding several promising startups all over the globe.
In 2014, Rocket Internet added Jovago,
an online hotel-room booking service, and Tripda, a web- and
mobile-based ride-sharing service, to the list of over half a dozen
successful ventures it has started in Pakistan during the preceding
years.
Rocket Internet also entered into an agreement with Ooredoo to bring investment to Pakistan and its neighboring countries via ‘Asia Holding Group’.
8. Pakistani Telcos Brought iPhone to Pakistan
Apple
iPhone is arguably one of the most sought-after technology-related
commodity items. After 7 years since the introduction of the original
iPhone, the smartphone is being made available in Pakistan officially in
collaboration with local telecom operators.
While
this might seem something trivial, the effects this step could have in
the long-run could be quite significant. This can be regarded as the
first step towards the introduction of contract-based smartphone sales
locally, and the provision of complete iPhone-related services to the
customers who previously had to rely on units brought through grey
channel distribution.
9. PITB’s Ventures Continue in Punjab Province
Punjab Information Technology Board is
country’s first autonomous body to advise, implement and monitor
technology-based solutions to enable the province to achieve its IT
potential. Plan9, country’s first technology incubator, PlanX, the
follow-up accelerator to Plan9, and Plan9 TechHub are the best-known
projects of PITB to support entrepreneurship.
Throughout the year, PITB launched and expanded numerous other projects as well in the province.eLearn Punjab, a free online repository of textbooks; Hajj Monitoring System to
facilitate Hujjaj before, during, and after the holy pilgrimage
procedure; Flood Monitoring System; and the Telepresence Room to
virtually connect 36 Punjab districts were a few major projects
undertaken by PITB this year.
10. Pakistani Startups Bagged Accolades at APICTA
Numerous
Pakistani startups and entrepreneurs have proved their mettle over and
over again in the recent past. The latest addition to the achievements
gained by such individuals and companies were honored at the
recently-held APICTA 2014 event in Jakarta, where Pakistani startups
competing for different categories won 2 Gold and 3 Silver awards.
In
the Best Startup category, RemoteInterview.io won the Runner-up award;
EatOye won a Runner-up Award as well in Tourism and Hospitality
category. In the Tertiary Student Project category, SmartSteth and TRex
Tremor Reader brought home both the Winner and Runner-up awards.
Finally, in Media & Entertainment Technologies, Groopic claimed the
Gold award for their product Ingrain.
