US embassy launches competition

ISLAMABAD: The US Embassy and the Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Islamabad Chapter in collaboration with the US Pakistan Women’s Council on Saturday launched the 2015 Pakistan StartUp Cup, which was a nationwide business competition.
Entrepreneurs selected to participate in StartUp Cup will receive coaching through multi-day ‘Build a Business’ workshops and regular mentoring to help turn their ideas into a commercial reality. Prize money of 10,000, 7,500 and 5,000 dollars will be awarded to the winner and two runners up with the best startup concept, said a press release of the embassy.
At the opening ceremony, Thomas E Williams Deputy Chief of Mission of the US embassy said programs like StartUp Cup foster greater inclusiveness in Pakistan’s economy particularly for women.
The entrepreneurial solutions that arise from competitions, such as StartUp Cup foster inclusiveness, grow economies, promote stability, expand the international supply chain and spread the exchange of ideas.
Over the course of the seven-month program aspiring Pakistani entrepreneurs will learn to design viable business models, develop customers and launch their startup business concepts in the marketplace. This year’s program will build on the success of last year’s StartUp Cup, which saw over 400 entrepreneurs compete for one of the top three prizes. Last year’s winning team went on to defeat 170 other entrepreneurs to win the first ever World StartUp Cup competition in Yerevan Armenia.
The 2015 StartUp Cup in Pakistan will introduce new partnerships with entrepreneurship centers across Pakistan, including the world’s first Women’s Entrepreneurial Center of Resources Education Access and Training for Economic Empowerment in Islamabad sponsored by the US Department of State in collaboration with the US Pakistan Women’s Council, the Lahore University for Management Science (LUMS) Center for Entrepreneurship and a Karachi-based technology incubator.