All you need to know about Startup Lahore

LAHORE: And the day is finally here! More than 150 startups, over 30 angel investors, and 3,000 attendees meet in Lahore on Thursday for the biggest-ever startup and innovation event in Pakistan.

Hosted by the MIT Enterprise Forum - Pakistan and Information Technology University at the Arfa Software Technology Park, the two-day conference brings together investors, entrepreneurs, mentors, speakers, technology companies, accelerators, and media in an initiative to bolster the country's growing startup ecosystem.

"In the last decade, Lahore has transformed itself into a technology hub. With our startup and investor eco-system building up steam, Startup Lahore has come about at an opportune time," said Dr. Umar Saif, chairman of PITB and vice chancellor of ITU – the driving force behind Pakistan's largest, Lahore-based technology accelerator PlanX.

"This will be a fantastic opportunity for all entities to network and showcase our talented community," he mentioned.

The first day of the event is open for attendees to participate in startup exhibits, workshops, seminars, networking events, corporate pavilions, and much more.

Startup Lahore has partnered with Careem to provide special discounted fares for people coming to the conference from anywhere in the city.

Startup Rumble competition

Apart from the several workshops and sessions conducted by local and international industry leaders – including big names such as Google, Microsoft, Bramerz, and others – a key part of the event is the Startup Rumble competition, involving startup ventures pitching a business idea to compete for cash prizes.

While the Rumble will be held on the second day in an invite-only, closed event, participating startups will showcase their ideas at their stalls on Thursday before they enter the final round of the competition on January 27.

Geo.TV is covering the event live on the web, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on both days.

According to a spokesperson for the Startup Lahore team, 85 startups have already been shortlisted for the next round, based on voting earlier this month after the teams signed up and posted their business ideas online.

Of the competing startups, the top 20 will be invited to pitch their ideas on Friday in front of a panel of judges. The winner will receive a Rs. 1,000,000 cash prize, along with a chance to be accelerated at PlanX. Runners-up will get a Rs. 500,000 cash prize, while the startup at the third place will receive Rs. 200,000.

The panel comprises Shoaib Zahid Malik, Director Kausar Group of Companies, Asha Jadeja Motwani, founder of Makerfestrajkot, Rajeev Circle Fellowship and Dot Edu Ventures, Ali Mukhtar, CEO of #FatimaVentures, Hassan Bhatti, Chief Business Officer at Iris Automation and co-founder of Quintius, Omer Khan, co-founder VIVID Technologies, Saad Fazil, co-founder and MD VentureDive, Dr. Sumaira Rehman, Pro Rector Superior University and CMACED, and Amna Nadim, Product Strategy & Communications Consultant and MD EarthRyse.

Workshops and seminars by industry leaders

A number of industry experts will conduct workshops during the two-day conference. These will include sessions by representatives from big names such as Google, Microsoft, Bramerz, and others.

One of the most exciting sessions will be conducted on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), two of the most talked-about buzzwords in technology across the world. The session, titled 'Emerging Entrepreneurial Opportunities in the Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Space', will be curated by none other than Google, a leading name in the machine learning and AI sector.

The other big name brand, Microsoft, will be curating two separate workshops on the Microsoft Bot Framework and Xamarin for mobile developers.

The Social Innovation Lab will conduct a session on 'Design Thinking for Entrepreneurs with an Impact', while Bramerz will curate the workshop on 'Growth hacking and Digital Marketing Trends'.

One of the session that we are looking forward to will be on rapid prototyping for user interfaces, curated by Make-i-stan, which describes itself as a makerspace "for creative people to share tools, knowledge and inspiration".

Earlier on Wednesday, the Startup Lahore team was seen busy with work trying to organize a fabulous event. Let's hope their hard work pays off!

 

 

The energy on the @PlanX_PITB & @MITEF_Pakistan floor is super positive. Show your love & support for #startuplahore tomorrow from 10-5pm pic.twitter.com/gDk5v6LsBY

— Startup Lahore (@Startup_Lahore) January 25, 2017

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