261 startups graduate under PITB in 2023

LAHORE:A total of 261 startups graduated under the National Expansion Plan of National Incubation Centres (NICs) Programme, a collaborative effort of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication from January to December 2023.

PITB Chairman Faisal Yousaf shared this information during a progress review meeting at Arfa Software Technology Park here on Thursday. The participants in the meeting were apprised that 87 startups of the National Expansion Plan NICs initiative graduated from Punjab, 64 from Sindh, 20 from Azad Kashmir, 39 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 31 from Balochistan and 20 from Gilgit-Baltistan.

PITB Chairman, in his remarks, said that the objective of the National Expansion Plan of NICs was to democratise entrepreneurship, boost business activity across the country, grow the IT industry and promote economic growth in Pakistan. ‘The incubation programme is tailored to the needs of early stage startups and runs on a zero-equity model,’ he added.

In partnership with the public universities, 13 tech incubation centres have been set up across the country where startups are provided with free-of-cost workspace, mentorship, networking opportunities, monthly stipend, business support and legal guidance for a period of six months.