As a part of our Launchpad 10, we at Plan9, came up with an idea to invite our alumni as well as other thriving startups to come over and talk to our potential startups.
5 years into the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with some excellent startups, we thought it fitting to have them with us as we celebrated our 10th Launchpad. Having built their businesses from scratch, we were sure that they’ll have a lot to offer to the newbies. We are happy to say, they did not disappoint.
Pep Talks were held throughout the week and one person from each startup came to represent their team, explain their business and talk to our audience about how they made it big in Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Patari – Humayun Haroon
We had on-board Humayun Haroon from Patari, Pakistan’s largest music portal. Humayun graduated from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology in 2012. He and his co-founder, Khalid Bajwa, launched Patari in 2014 and since then it has become the one stop shop for every kind of Pakistani music. Apart from having such a large collection of songs, the portal is quite engaging, it’s almost like having a friend around, adding music to your life.
Bookme.pk – Faizan Aslam
Bookme.pk has been thriving, an excellent e-ticketing portal in Pakistan, it is allowing people to order tickets for travelling or movies, within the comforts of their homes. Faizan Aslam, Director at Bookme Tickets, began working on Bookme.pk in 2013 and it is becoming increasingly popular among the masses. The web portal not only helps you book tickets, but also allows you to choose seats, be it in a bus or cinema. The tickets are delivered at your doorstep, quick and easy!
CampusFeed – Qasim Asad Salam
Qasim graduated from LUMS in 2015 and by the end of 2016, he was running his own startup, CampusFeed. The CampusFeed app is an anonymous social network which connects students on campus and helps them get real-time information. It allows everyone on campus to be connected, sharing instant messages while remaining anonymous. Qasim is currently looking to introduce CampusFeed in NCA and BNU.
Nearpeer – Ammar Ali Ayub
Ammar, CEO at Nearpeer, joined us for the pep talk session. Nearpeer was launched in 2015, while Ammar was studying at LUMS. It is an online platform that aims to provide video libraries of courses that are institution specific. The startup has been doing extremely well and currently, has on-board, universities like LUMS and LSE. Their catalogue of courses by specific teachers is present on the website
Epiphany – Samar Hassan
Samar Hassan, Co-Founder Epiphany, also came in to give our newbies a pep talk. With more than 12 years of experience in non-profit organizations, she has recently launched her own startup, Epiphany. Her startup aims to support and expand the entrepreneurial landscape of Pakistan by offering consultancy services for businesses. She wants to promote social and women entrepreneurship in the country.
CareMerge – Fahad Aziz
A graduate of FAST Lahore, Fahad Aziz, is the CTO and Co-Founder of CareMerge. Termed as the fastest growing healthcare startup by Forbes Magazine, CareMerge; a Chicago based company, has definitely made its mark. Fahad Aziz was a part of our pep talks. CareMerge is basically a platform through which families, residents and staff can remain connected. Families can check up on their loved ones by being in contact with the staff, senior citizens can access any facility related information through the platform and the staff is able to provide the best possible care through communication.
All these people offered some excellent advices to future entrepreneurs and since they all come from such different fields, there was definitely a lot to learn from. Stay tuned as we’ll soon be sharing tips and tricks they offered to all the attendees!