The 10^th P@SHA ICT Awards were held in Islamabad on Saturday, 21^st September. We know that The AppJuice readers are keen about getting the latest updates related to the tech, especially within Pakistan. So on Friday, the team hit the road. It was a great visit: we met some amazing teams, got a chance to interact with some of the most active people in the Pakistani tech world and overall, it was worth travelling all the way to Islamabad.

The Good Things

The event was held at a good venue and managed to bring all the important people together. So it is no surprise that it gets full points for the ambience. The Management was helpful and we didn’t face any problems in that regard. More importantly the food was awesome: you all know how great minds need to be kept well fed (literally :p). Jokes apart, the best thing about P@SHA ICT Awards was the fact that the participants were people who had worked for the technology in Pakistan or aspired to. P@SHA gathered all the ambitious entrepreneurs in the tech industry as well as the experienced ones, thereby putting together an event which could single-handedly convince anyone that Pakistan has a tremendous potential when it comes to ICT.

What was missing?

The AppJuice loved the event overall but there we do have a few things in mind which can be incorporated in the coming events. One of them is the fact that ceremonies like P@SHA Awards are an ideal place to launch new products.

Now this isn’t a new idea. In fact Apple and Samsung have been practicing it for a while. The Phone manufacturing giants use their PR and market reputation to help launch worthy startups. There is no reason why we can’t start doing the same in Pakistan. We know the talent is emerging and there are some great startups who are only just stepping into the market.

If you haven’t heard, here are The 10 Pakistani Startups you Should Watch out for!

Launching them via events like the P@SHA Awards which feature the prominent members of Pakistan’s tech world would help gain the startups encouragement, recognition and a good entry place in the market.

P@SHA Awards recognized and appreciated the emerging talent and many category related awards were given out. You can find out more about them here.

One interesting company that caught our attention was weRplay. It won the Best Startup Award and was the Runner Up for Best Mobile Application. This team has the best work logo we have come across: love.eat.work.pray.play! Together, they have managed to build some of the best games which reflect their hardwork, passion and commitment as a team. Some of their Projects include Blackwood & Bell Mysteries and Gardens of Time. They are working on a great game even as you read. Next time you see their name on your favourite mobile game, you will know that they are a product of the hardwork put in by yet another amazing Pakistani startup.