Arfa SoftwareTechnology Park.Taimor Kabir

The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)’s Entrepreneurial Wing Plan9established five years back has business success ratio of 60 %, attracted startups companies valued at $ 70 million, which is changing the economy of Pakistan through the expansion of eco-system. Dr. Umar Saif Chairman PITB said in his inaugural address at the mega event for Startups and entrepreneurs titled, “XPosition9” held here today. Over 100 startups and established tech companies show-cased their products through their stalls.

Dr. Umar Saif said that the companies like Careem, Infinity, Solars, Networks, IoT Company, KeepTalking, Patari, Mangobaz, Wifi Gem, Markhor etc; managed by Pakistani citizens have significantly contributed to the Pakistani ecosystem. Pakistan has the capacity and potential to improve exports up to 150 %, he added.

He further stated that with a US $ 4 million annual revenues during five years Plan9, Pakistan’s first mega incubator, has elective worth US $ 70 million and in addition created 1200 jobs by through 160 startups, which were contributing towards sustainable economic growth.

XPosition9 powered by Telenor Velocity followed by a note by Mr. Barkan Saeed, Chairman P@sha. He discussed the problems that Pakistani startups face and areas they should not be over-looking. Mr. WaqarNayyar, IoT head at Telenor, Pakistan talked about the increasing limelight and opportunity sets for the Hardware companies in Pakistan.

The first panel discussion focused the future of IoT in Pakistan. The panel included Sophia Hasnain, Founder and CEO Linked Things, FaizanIjaz, Co-Founder Wattie, Waqqar Nayyar, Head of IoT Telneor, Ali Rashid, CEO and founder Car Chabi, Usama Abid, Founder DIY Geeks and moderated by Ethisham Rao. The panel talk discussed the problems and opportunities working in the Hardware space and what investors look for.

Running parallel to the Demo, was Pakistan’s first ever IoT based Hacakthon by Telenor Velocity. 20 Hardware companies were selected to participate and the mentoring and pitching of the Hackathon spread over 2 days culminated at XPosition9. The winning team received PKR 125,000 from Telenor Pakistan, PKR 50,000 for the runner up and PKR 25,000 for the team that came in third. XPosition9 also held workshops based on Robotics and 3D printing for students aged 10 – 14 years and a round of the demo day to help them understand what is happening in the Pakistani startup scene.

The event included performances by up and coming artists in music industry. The line-up included NiazHunzai, B-Square, KhayaliPilao, Amour Propre and DJ Tashfeen