CIRCLE partnerships with HBL

CIRCLE Women Association brings the world’s biggest female-centric tech startup competition SHE LOVES TECH to Pakistan for the sixth year in a row.

Expressing her inspiration behind bringing She Loves Tech to Pakistan, CIRCLE’s founder Sadaffe Abid says: “At CIRCLE we are committed to promoting digital and financial inclusion of women along with creating an enabling ecosystem for women startups and women in tech. HBL has been our key partner from early days and collectively we will be impacting thousands of women across the country to create a more prosperous Pakistan.”

The plan is to expand the network from 13 cities in 2021 to hosting the competition in 15 cities this year which will also include second-tier cities like Sukkur, Hyderabad, Bahawalpur, Multan, Jamshoro, and Gilgit Baltistan, etc. in addition to major cities i.e. Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.

CIRCLE has been hosting the competition virtually for the last two years because of the pandemic, however this year, the competition activities will be conducted on-ground.

In 2021, more than 200 applications were received from all over Pakistan. 60 startups from the local rounds pitched in September 2021 which was followed by the country’s top 10 competing in the finals.

Aiman Bashir of “Outclass” an EdTech startup hailed as the winner of the Pakistan She Loves Tech National competition in 2021 and represented Pakistan at the Global finals with 40 other startups from all over the world. Out-Class has recently raised $500,000 in seed funding in a funding round.

“She Loves Tech Pakistan has been an inspiring experience!” Bashir states, “It is a truly unique experience to have connected with the industry experts and with so many brilliant women entrepreneurs having some incredibly innovative ideas to deliver change in Pakistan” she added.

Dr. Saira Siddique is the first Solo Female Startup Founder to Raise $1.8 Million For Health Tech Venture, medIQ. Siddqui was the finalist for She Loves Tech 2021.

“She Loves Tech was one of the best experiences for me. I was mentored by the most powerful women in technology and learned from amazing fellow women entrepreneurs. By participating in the She Loves Tech competition, my pitch was perfected and the fundraising strategy was laser focused. SLT has been a partner in my journey so far and will remain an integral part of future disruption in the health tech sector.” Dr Saira says.

She loves Tech, offers entrepreneurs like Aiman and Saira the opportunity to learn from the experts on how to develop their credit history and pitch their idea to investors while they also get to interact with other like-minded women determined to bring a positive change.

Closer Look at She Loves Tech 2022

Commenting on the initiative, Sagheer Mufti, Chief Operating Officer – HBL, said, “Through this partnership, we are committed to supporting digital literacy, financial inclusion and entrepreneurship for women. Women entrepreneurs across Pakistan have great potential and should be given equal opportunities. This is also imperative for economic progress. The Bank, in line with its purpose to promote financial and digital literacy amongst women, will continue to support such initiatives.”

This year, CIRCLE in partnership with HBL is hosting 9 local rounds in 15 cities and unlike the previous two years, all the activities for She Loves Tech 2022 will be conducted on the ground. The goal is to reach and inspire 25,000 young women across Pakistan through pitches, panels, inspiring talks, digital boot camps, and workshops specially designed for them.

The activities will also include round table conferences with government officials for designing policies that focus on better financial inclusion of women.

The 2022 edition of She Loves Tech will be happening in 70+ locations in 6 continents.