Being a news-oriented company which is focused on covering tech events and networking meetups happening all around the country, we can say after very close and personal observation that there are not many networking opportunities available at such gatherings. We filled this void with our first TechJuice Circle meetup back in 2015, and we have repeated that feat in 2018 too.
TechJuice Circle 2018 followed the same theme that we had established with the first Circle meetup — everyone gets to meet at least 50 percent of participants. The participants were divided into 6 circles, where they had a 30 minutes long discussion with mentors and startups, and then they move on to another circle where they get to meet a new mentor and new startups. And what did they talk about? Anything that was on their mind! They could have had a discussion with their mentors about any specific problem that they are facing with their startup, or they could have talked to other startups who are also aspiring to make a name for themselves.
A number of prominent figures of the industry such as Kamil Khan, General Manager Marketing Pakistan Cricket Board, Zeeshan Qureshi, CMO QMobile, Rabia Akbar, Director PR City School, and Maryam Mohiuddin, Founder Social Innovation Lab, were present as mentors at TechJuice Circle 2018.
It was networking in its purest form, with no restrictions or agendas. We just provided a supportive platform to make 12 mentors and more than 60 startups as comfortable as we could, so they can be themselves and talk to similar minded people. And this time we had the support of Huawei, one of the largest companies in the world who are also deeply interested in inviting and promoting innovation at every possible scale, no matter how big or small. Huawei held a workshop at the meetup too in which Harris Nadeem, a renowned blogger, and Chief Editor at Team Android, talked about his experience while using Huawei Mate 20 Pro. Huawei also set up display units for the participants of the TechJuice Circle meetup to experience their latest smartphone at first hand.
While talking about the event, Kamil Khan, GM marketing Pakistan Cricket Board said:
“I think TechJuice is doing an amazing Job. Whenever I come to such events, I am amazed to find new startups. These platforms, especially this kind of events, are producing such amazing talents that you actually get to see the digital industry growing year on year. I think this the start of an amazing journey and I hope more people will come in, support and guide startups that have come here.”
The enthusiasm was palpable, the excitement clearly visible on everyone’s face. We witnessed an amazing 90 minutes filled with intense discussion, continuous exchange of ideas and, most importantly, the building of new ties between mentors, startups and key figures in our industry, which will help push the startup culture in Pakistan forward like the Circle meetup 2015 did. We feel that our only reward for arranging the event is the amazing connections that we have helped establish.
Even though the networking (or as we like to refer it to, forced networking), was only supposed to last for 3 rounds, the networking didn’t stop even when the food was served. The cheerful chatter of people continued until we had to, very reluctantly, announce that the event was coming to an end. The final question that everyone had for us was when we would be holding another meetup like this!
Have a look at some of the startups that attended TechJuice Circle 2018.
