Pakistani startups have gained quite a lot of popularity in the last few years. Just recently, a startup from Pakistan, Patari, received the 2nd position at a global event. Today, six startups will be traveling to the United States for taking part in the ATX+PAK Launch Entrepreneurship Exchange Program. The program will be hosted at Austin, Texas.
Which startups are part of the program?
All six startups are part of either Plan9 or PlanX, Pakistan’s largest technology incubator.
- Affordable.pk – a marketplace for fashion lovers.
- Babyplanet – an eCommerce website for baby accessories.
- BookMyUmrah – an information portal that provides details of travel, flights, and hotel for Umrah.
- ClubInternet – a technology and education website that seeks to provide basic internet services to everyone.
- MangoBaaz – an online entertainment and information platform.
- Virgin Teez – a marketplace for customized t-shirts with a charitable cause.
How are the startups selected?
The program is a joint effort made by Plan9 and the city of Austin for promoting startups and providing them with an environment for growth. For getting selected, a startup will need to submit an evaluated application and a series of interviews conducted by the Plan9 panel. However, before selection, startups have to meet the following requirements to be eligible for the program:
- The startup should be globally scalable and must have a functional technology product or service.
- There should either be a source of revenue for the startup or a large user-base.
What will the program provide?
As part of this program, six startups are selected after a period of six months each. After selection, the startups are sent to the Texas incubator in Austin for mentoring and training. The main goal of the program is to provide startups with the chance to access funding and advisers from global sources. It will also provide these startups with international exposure and the chance to grow globally as well.
The program will also provide a funded and well-equipped workspace for these startups so that they can improve on their products and/or services. Other key benefits of the program include the opportunity for networking and attracting investors for funding the startups.
The group of six startups will be traveling to Austin in October, later this year. This is the second group that is being sent to Austin as part of the ATX+PAK Launch Entrepreneurship Program. Application for the third cohort will start in November 2016. Interestingly, the award winning Patari was one of the startups that were part of the first group of the ATX+PAK Launch Entrepreneurship Exchange Program.
