7 startups out of 70 applications received, selected for Telenor’s accelerator program

Telenor Pakistan’s digital accelerator program, Telenor Velocity, has announced the startups for its much anticipated 7th cohort, this time in partnership with Telenor Microfinance Bank/Easypaisa.

The startups were welcomed onboard in a virtual orientation featuring keynote addresses by the company’s leadership, post a grueling selection process.

The cohort was formed considering the key areas where solutions are needed in the Pakistani context, including Fin-tech, Ed-tech, Agri-tech, Health-tech, and Inclusion. The 7 startups that have been selected for this year’s cohort are Up-trade, Good-Earth, Digi Khata, Foree, Ola Doc, Sehat Kahani, and DeafTawk.

Telenor Velocity’s 7th Cohort received 70+ applications from mature startup businesses, out of which 24 startups were short-listed for the interview rounds. After 4 days of vigorous startup interviews judged by a panel of internal experts from Telenor Pakistan & Telenor Microfinance Bank, 7 startups were chosen for this cohort.

Launched in 2016, the accelerator has to date conducted 6 cohorts, with 32 graduated startups, 4+ pilot runs, and a $40,000 pilot investment. Moreover, a $3 million investment has been raised, so far, by the program’s startups.

The Telenor Velocity program offers startups equity-free support for 4 months. Along with having access to Telenor Pakistan’s 48 million customers and My Telenor App’s 8 million users, the startups will also be supported in SMS marketing campaigns, receive coaching from domain experts, and have access to state-of-the-art data analytics/customer insights.