US based social accelerator Unreasonable Institute to launch in Pakistan

Epiphany Private Limited and the Center for Youth Activism of Pakistan (CYAP) have entered into a strategic partnership to host a first-of-its-kind social accelerator program in partnership with the U.S based Unreasonable Institute. This rigorous partnership will open a new avenue for comprehensive capacity building for socially driven startups across Pakistan. The five-day accelerator program is specially designed for early/idea-stage Pakistani entrepreneurs who are tackling social and environmental problems.

“Not only are we absolutely thrilled to be bringing this Lab to Pakistan, we are equally delighted to have partnered with CYAP and connect with young people who are driving positive change in the country,” said Samar Hasan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Epiphany. Shahrukh Wani, the founder of CYAP added that “this partnership is based on the alignment of the two organizations’ values, in particular empowering and engaging young people.”

Epiphany Private Limited was co-founded in 2016 to provide advisory services to impact-driven projects, ideas & businesses. Besides supporting social entrepreneurship in Pakistan, it offers development consulting and institutional development support, conducts governance research & advocates governance reform, and promotes dialogue & policy advocacy. On the other hand, the Center for Youth Activism of Pakistan (CYAP) was founded in 2015 with the aim of empowering, connecting and engaging young people in the national discourse.

The two partners have already successfully entered into a partnership with the Unreasonable Institute, a Colorado based organization which runs social accelerator programs throughout the United States and around the world. The week-long program will run from August 22 to 26 in Islamabad and will bring Unreasonable Institute’s time-tested knowledge and network critical in scaling up mission driven startups. The lab aims to train each of its startup to impact 100,000 lives within three years of graduating.

Looking beyond the lab, the two organizations are also working on a broad set of socially driven issues.