Ten startups from different National Incubation Centers participated with Ignite National Technology Fund at this year’s GITEX exhibition in Dubai. Ignite established a large country pavilion in Zaabeel Hall 5 at GITEX this year. Ignite selected startups from different verticals to showcase the entrepreneurial potential of Pakistan in different areas including MyTM (Fintech), MapAlytics (AR/VR), XpertFlow (AI), Empowering People and Organizations (e-services), Asani.IO (CleanTech), InstaCare (HealthTech), Brayt (Ecommerce), Edversity(EdTech), WonderTree( AR/VR), and Orbit (EdTech). Three of these startups qualified for the Supernova pitching competition at GITEX. GITEX is the largest technology event in the middle east which has attracted more than 100,000 visitors from more than 170 countries this year. There are more than 5000 exhibitors and 800 startups exhibiting at GITEX this year in different areas including metaverse, 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud & edge, cybersecurity, fintech, blockchain, data analytics and smart cities. While inaugurating Ignite’s pavilion at GITEX, Syed Amin Ul Haque, Federal Minister for IT & Telecom said, “I am delighted that future stars of Pakistan are showcasing their ideas at GITEX this year. This clearly shows that entrepreneurial ecosystem of Pakistan is on the rise. Ignite has doubled the number of Pakistani startups participating at GITEX this year which reflects Ignite’s efforts towards promotion of startup ecosystem of Pakistan.” While conveying his thoughts on the occasion, Mohsin Mushtaq, Secretary IT & Telecom said that startups are creating jobs, empowering women and bringing investments. We are witnessing growth in not only the number of startups but also an increase in our network of national incubation centers, investors’ interest and startup competitions. Asim Shahryar Husain, CEO Ignite stated that “More than $340 million has been raised by Pakistani startups till September 2022 despite the 30% reduction in global startup funding. Considering that Pakistani startups have raised more than $870 million over the last 5 years against average equity of 25%, total valuation of Pakistani startups is estimated to be around $3.5 billion at present. The purpose of participation in GITEX is to connect Pakistani startups with international customers and investors and to create awareness about Pakistan’s rising entrepreneurial talent.” An MoU was also signed during the event by CEO Ignite and CEO Huawei Pakistan, Mark Meng, for collaboration in technology innovation and entrepreneurship between both organizations. Ignite and Ministry of IT & Telecom are looking forward to some exciting results from the startups showcasing at GITEX this year. One of the Pakistani startups at GITEX has already closed a deal of more than half a million dollars during the event. Another startup is expecting to close a deal by next month. Ignite National Technology Fund is a public sector company with Ministry of IT & Telecom which is focused on funding and promoting tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Pakistan. So far, Ignite has established incubation centers in 7 different cities of Pakistan which have incubated more than 1100 startups, created 115,000 jobs and raised funding of more than Rs. 16 billion.
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