'+92 Disrupt' conference highlights Pakistan's potential in startups, technology

A two-day conference, organised by Katalyst Labs, was held in Karachi to showcase Pakistan’s capabilities in startups, technology, and investment.

Titled "+92 Disrupt", the event brought together over 850 startup founders, investors, and students under one roof at a local hotel.

Discussions during the conference covered topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), fintech, gaming, and other emerging technologies.

Speaking to Geo News, Katalyst Labs Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jehan Ara emphasised the need to focus on solving public issues through technology.

“The aim of this initiative is to support the numerous startups and companies working in the country. We want to organise events where they can meet and learn from each other," she said. 

Prominent speakers included founder of Crysta Zaid Inam, CEO of InfraZamin Maheen Rahman, founder of Jaadu Asad Malik and renowned investor Atif Awan. They highlighted technology as a key pillar of the economy and stressed the importance of fostering a conducive environment for investment.

The conference conveyed a powerful message — Pakistan's future lies in the determination and talent of its youth.

The event also featured a competition named “AI Challenge 2024”.

The competition aims to inspire the use of Generative AI in ground breaking applications that can improve lives and work at scale. It represents the perfect opportunity for creators who want to address real-world problems, and deliver solutions that make a huge difference and get rewarded with recognition, broad awareness about their work and high prize money.

The AI Challenge 2024 saw 167 submissions, with 40 teams making it through to the second round. Each project submitted aimed to provide a practical solution for a real-world problem leveraging data and GenAI capabilities.

Here is the list of winners of this competition:

• First prize — Rs2,000,000, won by AERA’s BYTE
• Second prize — Rs1,000,000, won by OculaCare
• Best engineering — Rs100,000, AERA
• Best product — Rs100,000, won by MedScribe 
• Best presentation — Rs100,000, won by OculaCare

Each of these innovative projects was assessed by a judgement panel, comprising Security.AI CEO Rehan Jalil, VP of AI at Securiti. AI Michael Rinehart, Professor of Field Data Science & AI at IBA Karachi Dr Sajjad Haider, Associate Professor and HoD Computer Science at FAST-NU Karachi Muhammad Rafi and Lead Data Scientist at Securiti.AI Raza Abbas.