Plan9 has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with 3 Austin startup incubators: Capital factory, TechRanch Austin and 3 Day Startup.
MOUs were signed when recently a delegation from Austin, Texas came to Pakistan to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week from 14th November till 21st November 2016. A group of 10 delegates from Austin visited Pakistan. Dr. Umair Saif, Chairman Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) hosted an outdoor lunch on the last day of the event. He appreciated the visit of the delegation to Pakistan and steps taken by them in the expansion of entrepreneurial ecosystem across the world. He said,
“This partnership means a lot to us. It is a wonderful opportunity for our startups to learn and gain experience from.”
He further added: “I think this is just the beginning of something great. It has only been possible because of the wonderful team of PITB, that today we stand here partnering with exceptionally amazing companies at Austin.”
Plan9 is Pakistan’s first technology incubation program run by PITB. It provides an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and business development. ATX+PAK, a 3-weeks fully funded exchange program for Pakistani entrepreneurs, was started in January 2016. This program provides exposure and mentoring to the startups of Pakistan.
Collaboration with 3 Day Startup (3DS)
3 Day Startup is a 72-hour learning-by-doing workshop that teaches entrepreneurial skills to university students in an extreme hands-on environment. 3DS team members will travel to Lahore to facilitate the 3 day workshop. They’ll also provide mentoring and coaching through calls, video conferencing, website hosting and digital branding. 3DS will be sharing content including slide decks, frameworks, communications, copyright license, trademarks, etc. 3DS will tailor their modules according to the local needs of Pakistan.
Collboration with Tech Ranch
Tech Ranch brings entrepreneurs from all stages together to fill in the missing pieces and leverage the social capital of the community of practice. It has educated over 5,500 entrepreneurs and helped launch over 570 ventures.
Umair Saif and Kevin Koym, Founder of Tech Ranch agreed that Tech Ranch will provide mentorship, mentor toolkit and online mentoring session to startups focusing on social entrepreneurship and connect them to social entrepreneurs in Austin and in States. Plan9 and Tech Ranch will collaboratively work on a plan for building out a successful long term relationship with the intent of creating impact both in Pakistan and in the world through social entrepreneurs.
Plan9 Collaboration with Capital Factory
Capital factory is another place for startups and young entrepreneurs. It serves as a coworking space and accelerator for entrepreneurs to learn, grow and expand their ventures.
The primary purpose of this MOU is to establish a strategic relationship between the parties. It’ll establish linkages between the startups of Pakistan and Austin.
This MoU was signed between Dr. Umar Saif representing Plan9 and Ali Syed, Austin Coordinator at Capital Factory.
The city of Austin is one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial infrastructure in US and the collaborative effort of Plan9 and Austin’s incubators will pave new paths for more entrepreneurial and cultural exchanges between both countries. It will also change the dynamics of Pakistan’s startup ecosystem in positive direction.
