Annual StartUp Cup competition launched

Islamabad
The US Embassy in Islamabad and the Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Islamabad Chapter, in collaboration with the US Pakistan Women’s Council, launched the 2015 Pakistan StartUp Cup, an intensive, 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 will be awarded to the winner and two runners-up with the best startup concept.
At the opening ceremony, Thomas E. Williams, deputy chief of Mission of the US Embassy in Islamabad said, “Programmes 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 programme, aspiring Pakistani entrepreneurs will learn to design viable business models, develop customers, and launch their startup business concepts in the marketplace. This year’s programme 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 (WECREATE) 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 Karachi-based technology incubator “The Nest I/O.”