Science

'021Disrupt' conf: talks to set up 'Startup Fund', 'five investment deals' likely

By Web Desk
November 06, 2017

KARACHI: A milestone in the history of e-commerce, as Pakistan’s biggest entrepreneurship conference '021 Disrupt' attracted top venture capital firms, tech celebrities  and entrepreneurs from the Middle East, Singapore and the US to explore the future of the innovation economy.

For the first time in Pakistan, an Investor Roundtable was held with more than 35 investors who shared insights and explored possibilities of investment and collaboration at various levels.

The 2-Day Conference was organized by The Nest I/O, which is a technology incubator set up by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA).

Jehan Ara, President of P@SHA, revealed that the two-day conference had a maximum attendance of 650 persons, over 200 startups, professionals and students who listened to 60 speakers, including 14 international  powerful leaders who were the experts in their fields.

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, startups were given the opportunity to directly interact with leading investors who had invested in global household names such as Careem, Udemy, Behance, Canva and Stripe.

Apart from international investors, sixteen institutional investors from the country also attended the conference.

Hinting at the likely outcome, Jehan Ara said there may soon be an announcement of at least 2 to 5 major investments that were an outcome of these interactions, while talks are under way to set up a new Startup Fund.

The most influential and powerful leader is one who makes efforts to bring changes globally, makes an impact felt worldwide and is never discouraged, said Mallikarjunan, who arrived from the United States, an executive strategist at HubSpot Labs, during a session, titled ‘Beyond Startup: How to Make a Dent in the Universe’.

Of the two major investors, representatives of WAMDA announced at the conference that the company was about to set aside US$50 million for investment in Pakistan startups to be consumed over the next 4 years.

Another major Middle Eastern investor, MEVP also expressed interest to invest in Pakistani startups, as had Bakery, which was the Platinum sponsor of the Conference.

Earlier, the conference speakers and panelists touched upon important topics like the need for consolidating the Startup ecosystem in Pakistan, engaging with the regulators to bring the framework up to speed with the changing needs, perception management of the country.

They also expressed their views on the need to become players in the global market by sharing experiences of successes and failures from markets as varied as the US, Chile, Middle East, Indonesia and Turkey.