Capital seed money distributed at IBA ceremony

KARACHI: The Sindh Incubation Research Centre, operated by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Karachi, and funded by the Department of Information Science and Technology, Government of Sindh, distributed cash awards among the first batch of aspirants to mark the distribution of seed capital at a ceremony at the IBA, City Campus, on Monday afternoon.

There were hundreds of applicants and after thorough vetting eight teams were selected as finalists. The recipients were: Selge, Rs350,000; Medico-Pharma, Rs350,000; C-Shop, Rs300,000; Enjoin, Rs350,000; Event Planet, Rs250,000;

D-Marketing, Rs350,000; Food Hub, Rs350,000; and The counselor, Rs300,000.

Dr Sikandar Ali Shoro, adviser to the Sindh chief minister on information science and technology, who was the chief guest, said that the project was a part of the government’s manifesto to give impetus to a culture of entrepreneurship among

the youth to help them promote the prosperity of Sindh and Pakistan and help Pakistan attain a prominent position in the global economy.

This collaboration, he said, could help the young entrepreneurs by providing them opportunities to ensure sustainable growth for their ideas to create commercially viable technology start-ups.

Others who addressed the ceremony were Imran Batada, director, IBA-CICT (Centre for Information and Communications Technology); Agha Zaheeruddin, secretary, Information Science and Technology, Government of Sindh; and Muhammad Yusuf, director-general, Information Science and Technology.

Dr Farrukh Iqbal, Dean, IBA, lauded the government of Sindh for this novel initiative and said that with the setting up of new centres and partnerships, the IBA was now much more than just a business training institute and said that the Sindh Incubation Research Centre would play a decisive role.