Comment by Riaz Haq on December 26, 2022 at 8:59pm

Pakistan inching towards establishing vibrant network of IT parks


https://www.nation.com.pk/25-Dec-2022/pakistan-inching-towards-esta...

ISLAMABAD-With digital growth going through a rapid evolution, Pakistan is inching towards establishing a vibrant network of state-of-the-art Information Technology (IT) parks aimed at providing young professionals a launching pad to execute their innovative ideas and contribute to the national economy efficiently.

The software technology parks would not only generate employment opportunities for IT professionals but also attract millions of dollars in precious foreign exchange, boost the IT industry, and increase exports, once they are completed and become fully operational.

Currently, work on establishing the IT parks in Karachi at the cost of Rs. 41 billion and Islamabad at the cost of Rs 13.72 billion is underway. Experts believe that after their completion, they would provide job opportunities to around 35,000 IT professionals collectively.

Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul-Haq said the Karachi IT Park would be a gateway for an innovative future and strengthen the economy. “Karachi IT Park is the largest IT project of its kind in Pakistan, which will benefit not only the citizens of Karachi but also the IT professionals and companies of Sindh and the rest of Pakistan,” he added.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 30, 2022 at 10:59am

Although Pakistani startups posted a 36% decline in third quarter (July-September) of calendar year 2022 compared to the previous quarter, the financial technology (fintech) showed rising graph during the same period.

https://www.nation.com.pk/10-Nov-2022/unbanked-population-helping-p...

According to the data of Invest2Innovate (i2i), a startups consultancy firm, six out of the 14 deals that took place in Q3 2022 were fintech startups, compared to two deals of e-commerce startups. Fintech startups raised $38 million which is 58% of total funding ($65 million) in Q3 2022, compared to e-commerce startups that raised 19% of total funding. The i2i data shows that in Q3 2022, fintech raised 37.1% higher than what it raised in Q2 2022 ($27.7 million). Similarly, in Q2 2022, the total investment of fintech was 63% higher compared to what it raised in Q1 2022 ($17 million).

Sumbal Qureshi, a fintech consultant, told WealthPK that political situation has an impact on the economic situation of the country due to which a lot of foreign fintech companies have held back their initiatives. This situation is also a challenge for local fintech firms. The unusual growth is just because the existing fintechs and more established companies are trying to survive at the moment. They are trying to overcome the situation by continuing to invest in the fintech sector.

Imran Jattala, a well-known IT expert, told WealthPK that 5% of the world’s unbanked population lives in Pakistan. About 18,000 people are crossing the age of 18 every day in Pakistan, and unbanked population and those under 18 use fintech for their financial affairs. So fintech and digital banking is going to thrive despite a decrease in startup funding.

According to data of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), over the years, branchless/mobile banking has shown tremendous growth based on the telco-banks-fintech nexus, contributing significantly to financial inclusion. The m-banking network has expanded to over 534,460 m-banking agents and 74.6 million m-wallet accounts. This network enabled more than 2.2 billion annual transactions worth over Rs8 trillion in 2021. Despite these developments, cash still dominates economic activities and there is scant use of electronic payments, especially by micro and small retailers. Cash is the predominant payment method in Pakistan as it is considered ‘safe’ by the majority of retailers and suppliers. Many wages and salaries are also paid through cash.

The importance and usage of electronic banking and alternative delivery channels has increased during the post-Covid-19 period. Realising this, the State Bank of Pakistan further incentivised the use of digital financial channels by instructing banks to waive all inter-bank and intra-bank charges on digital transactions. This resulted in a substantial annual increase of 206% in inter-bank transfers and 122% in intra-bank transfers through internet banking. For mobile banking, the impact was even higher, with a three-fold increase in mobile banking inter-bank transfers from Rs765 billion in FY 2020 to Rs2.346 trillion in FY 2021.

Comment by Riaz Haq on December 30, 2022 at 4:54pm

Kalsoom Lakhani
@kalsoom82
1/Happy New Year! It's 2nd to last day of 2022, so that means time for the Q4 roundup of #Pakistan startup ecosystem funding, put together by our
@Invest2Innovate
Insights team. This was a ~slow~ quarter w/ startups in Q4 raising $14.9M, bringing our 2022 YTD total to $355M./

https://twitter.com/kalsoom82/status/1608898809987489795?s=20&t...

-----------------

2/ The good news: our 2022 YTD number just *barely* surpassed our 2021 YTD number ($354M vs $355M), BUT it still did (woo!). The bad news: pace of funding slowed down significantly towards end of year -- in Q4 we raised just 8.6% what we did in Q1. This is both push & pull/

--------------------

3/ a LOT of startups held off on raising at the end of the year in Pakistan & may open rounds early Q1 2023 (I know this qualitatively as a PK-focused VC who speaks to our portfolio companies often, this isn't a data-driven observation) & so too, a lot of VCs slowed down pace/

----------------

4/ towards the end of 2022, (us included!). My good friend
@faisal_aftab
rightly predicts macro uncertainty will continue in 2023 so buckle down, but I do believe good companies w/ good economics will continue to raise in 2023 (tho vals will go down & it will take longer./

-------------

5/ On Monday, our Insights team will put out a pretty epic EOY roundup for ur viewing pleasure, so stay tuned! You can read our roundup & subscribe for more: https://insightsi2i.substack.com/p/7-q4-2022-roundup
All raw data can be found here:

https://www.insightsi2i.com/

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 1, 2023 at 7:48am

Health Startups to transform under AKU-AP's Incubation Programme

https://www.aku.edu/news/Pages/News_Details.aspx?nid=NEWS-002903

National Health Incubator (NHI) is a first of its kind healthcare focused incubation programme designed to enable the development, deployment, and commercialization of select innovative and technology-driven solutions. It is run by Accelerate Prosperity (AP), a global initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in partnership with Aga Khan University (AKU).


Accelerate Prosperity is a global initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network in Central and South Asia which offers creative financial solutions and pre and post investment technical assistance to help start and grow innovative startups and small and growing businesses.

The Aga Khan University is a pioneering institution of higher education that works to improve quality of life in the developing world and beyond. The University operates programmes in campuses in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom, and treats more than 2 million patients annually at 7 hospitals across more than 350 medical centres globally.

The NHI 2022 Demo Day took place on December 1, 2022 at Aga Khan University, Karachi with the on-ground support and facilitation of Critical Creative Innovative Thinking (CCIT) Forum – a unique innovation and incubation hub at AKU. A total of 19 health tech startups pitched their businesses at the Demo Day to get one-on-one feedback and secure financing from AP and external investors. The event provided an opportunity for AKU and AKDN leadership, entrepreneurs, investors and ecosystem partners to network, exchange industry knowledge, and build market linkages. The partnership between AP and AKU has been vital to the success of NHI and aims to fuel much-needed innovation in the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem in Pakistan.

The incubated entrepreneurs went through months of rigorous one-on-one tailored business advisory and training to refine their business and financial models and were prepared to secure investment on the Demo Day. Entrepreneurs were also provided one-on-one mentoring sessions with leading sector experts to help them better understand industry dynamics and depth.

Incubated businesses represented tele-health, mental health, wellness and lifestyle transformation, and health-tech subsectors within the broader healthcare sector. Leading investors and ecosystem partners from Sarmayacar, I2I Ventures, Indus Valley Capital, TPL eVentures, Rayn, Neem, Insitor Partners, AlphaBetaCore amongst others were present at the event. The innovative and impactful business pitches kept the investors thoroughly engaged.

Nadeem Shaikh, Founder at Neem - An Embedded Finance Platform - said “It’s impressive each time I come to pitch days and get to witness the sheer amount of talent, innovative ideas aspiring, and new entrepreneurs are thinking about and the scale at which they’re thinking about is amazing.”

Dr. Carl Amrhein, Provost & Vice President, Academic at Aga Khan University said “We feel that fostering partnerships such as NHI will pave the way for the changing the entrepreneurial landscape in Pakistan. I commend the entire NHI team who worked so hard with entrepreneurs to get them investment ready and prepared for the Demo Day.”

Rohma Labeeb, Country Director at Accelerate Prosperity Pakistan said, “Over 60% of healthcare spend in Pakistan is by the private sector, which opens unlimited opportunities for businesses to come at the forefront to bring in efficiencies, quality and scale.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 1, 2023 at 10:06am

Freelancers earn $400 million in FY22


https://tribune.com.pk/story/2372834/freelancers-earn-400-million-i...

The contribution of the freelancers accounted for 14.77% of the total information and communication technologies (ICT) export remittances of $2.616 billion recorded by the country during FY22.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 1, 2023 at 10:06am

Freelancers earn $400 million in FY22


https://tribune.com.pk/story/2372834/freelancers-earn-400-million-i...

The contribution of the freelancers accounted for 14.77% of the total information and communication technologies (ICT) export remittances of $2.616 billion recorded by the country during FY22.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 5, 2023 at 4:42pm

The app (Sehat Kahani) was brought into the (Pakistani) federal government's 'Digital Pakistan' drive and used in 65 intensive care units (ICUs) across Pakistan under a project with UNDP, Health Services Academy and the federal and provincial governments. This allowed health workers to access critical care consultation through a Virtual Critical Care Specialist (VCCS).

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/sehat-kahani-showing-pakistan-dig...

n connection with that project, and in collaboration with WHO and the federal government of Pakistan, six clinics were launched in hard-to-reach areas of Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a specific focus on sexual and reproductive healthcare services was also added to this project.

"Around 1,500 doctors across Baluchistan, KPK, and Punjab were trained in sexual reproductive services, primary healthcare, and telemedicine," says Dr Saeed.

"Telehealth services have the potential to bridge the gap between patients and physicians in Pakistan. However, poor education, illiteracy in rural areas, lack of resources, poor internet connectivity, excessive loadshedding, etc., have limited the accessibility of qualified doctors to reach to the population in remote areas," says Dr Zahid.

-----------

Sehat Kahani, established in 2017, is a leading initiative in this regard. Its founder, Dr Sara Saeed, is a medical doctor whose mission is to help shore up Pakistan's fragile healthcare system by bridging the gap between patients and physicians through digitalisation.

"As per recent statistics, around 210 million people in Pakistan don't have access to basic healthcare facilities. To address this, Sehat Kahani connects a vast network of predominantly female doctors to patients in far-flung areas of Pakistan," says Dr Saeed. She and cofounder Dr Iffat Zafar Agha managed to raise seed funding of US$ 500,000 in 2018, followed by a pre-series of $1 million in March 2021.

In 2019, the app launched with about 60 doctors. Today, Sehat Kahani comprises a large network of more than 7,000 doctors.

Ninety percent of those 7,000 doctors are women. Approximately 50% of them are home-based female doctors who have returned to practice after leaving when they got married and had children.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 13, 2023 at 4:17pm

State Bank of Pakistan issues NOCs to five applicants for establishing digital bank

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40220082

Central bank expects after commencement of operations, digital banks will promote financial inclusion by providing affordable/cost effective digital financial services to unserved and underserved segments

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday said that it has issued no-objection certificates (NOC) to five applicants for establishing digital banks in the country.

The following are the ones issued the NOC:

I) Easy Paisa DB (Telenor Pakistan B.V & Ali Pay Holding Ltd.),

II) Hugo Bank (Getz Bros & Co., Atlas Consolidated Pte. Ltd. and M & P Pakistan Pvt. Ltd.);

III) KT Bank (Kuda Technologies Ltd., Fatima Fertilizer Ltd. and City School Pvt. Ltd.);

IV) Mashreq Bank (Mashreq Bank UAE); and

V) Raqami (Kuwait Investment Authority through – PKIC and Enertech Holding Co.)

In January 2022, the SBP introduced a licensing and regulatory framework for digital banks.

“The Framework was the first step towards introducing full-fledged digital banks in Pakistan. The digital banks are expected to provide all the banking services through digital means without any need for their customers to visit the bank branches physically,” said the SBP.

Race to digital banking – final round

In response to SBP’s Licensing and Regulatory Framework for digital banks, the central bank received twenty (20) applications from a diverse range of interested players such as commercial banks, microfinance banks, electronic money institutions and Fintech firms by March 31, 2022.

“Further, a number of foreign players including venture capital firms already operating in the digital banking space also expressed their interest to venture into Pakistani market directly or in collaboration with local partners. The five (05) applicants were selected after a thorough and rigorous assessment process as per the requirements of the Framework.

Bank Alfalah launches QR payment solution with SnapRetail

“Applicants were assessed on various parameters that included fitness and propriety, experience and financial strength; business plan; implementation plan; funding and capital plan; IT and cybersecurity strategy and outsourcing arrangements, etc. Further, all the applicants were given the opportunity to present their business case to SBP.

“Going forward, each of these five applicants will incorporate a public limited company with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Afterwards, they will approach SBP for In-Principle Approval for demonstrating operational readiness and for commencement of operations under the pilot phase. Subsequently, they will commercially launch their operations after obtaining SBP’s approval.”

The SBP said it expects that after commencement of their operations, these digital banks will promote financial inclusion by providing affordable/cost effective digital financial services including credit access to unserved and underserved segments of the society.

Comment by Riaz Haq on January 13, 2023 at 4:18pm

State Bank of Pakistan issues NOCs to five applicants for establishing digital bank

https://www.brecorder.com/news/40220082

Central bank expects after commencement of operations, digital banks will promote financial inclusion by providing affordable/cost effective digital financial services to unserved and underserved segments

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday said that it has issued no-objection certificates (NOC) to five applicants for establishing digital banks in the country.

The following are the ones issued the NOC:

I) Easy Paisa DB (Telenor Pakistan B.V & Ali Pay Holding Ltd.),

II) Hugo Bank (Getz Bros & Co., Atlas Consolidated Pte. Ltd. and M & P Pakistan Pvt. Ltd.);

III) KT Bank (Kuda Technologies Ltd., Fatima Fertilizer Ltd. and City School Pvt. Ltd.);

IV) Mashreq Bank (Mashreq Bank UAE); and

V) Raqami (Kuwait Investment Authority through – PKIC and Enertech Holding Co.)

In January 2022, the SBP introduced a licensing and regulatory framework for digital banks.

“The Framework was the first step towards introducing full-fledged digital banks in Pakistan. The digital banks are expected to provide all the banking services through digital means without any need for their customers to visit the bank branches physically,” said the SBP.

Race to digital banking – final round

In response to SBP’s Licensing and Regulatory Framework for digital banks, the central bank received twenty (20) applications from a diverse range of interested players such as commercial banks, microfinance banks, electronic money institutions and Fintech firms by March 31, 2022.

“Further, a number of foreign players including venture capital firms already operating in the digital banking space also expressed their interest to venture into Pakistani market directly or in collaboration with local partners. The five (05) applicants were selected after a thorough and rigorous assessment process as per the requirements of the Framework.

Bank Alfalah launches QR payment solution with SnapRetail

“Applicants were assessed on various parameters that included fitness and propriety, experience and financial strength; business plan; implementation plan; funding and capital plan; IT and cybersecurity strategy and outsourcing arrangements, etc. Further, all the applicants were given the opportunity to present their business case to SBP.

“Going forward, each of these five applicants will incorporate a public limited company with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. Afterwards, they will approach SBP for In-Principle Approval for demonstrating operational readiness and for commencement of operations under the pilot phase. Subsequently, they will commercially launch their operations after obtaining SBP’s approval.”

The SBP said it expects that after commencement of their operations, these digital banks will promote financial inclusion by providing affordable/cost effective digital financial services including credit access to unserved and underserved segments of the society.

Comment by Riaz Haq on February 12, 2023 at 8:25pm

Pakistani startup using Artificial Intelligence to help farmers

https://thinkml.ai/pakistani-startup-using-ai-to-help-farmers/

Artificial intelligence solution for the farmers to yield more crops with reduced quantity of water resources. Pakistan has great potential of agriculture and its water spending is based on irrigation. To avoid the water crisis situation in the future, this startup is helping farmers using AI …

While the water shortage is reaching an alarming level in Pakistan and the country on the edge of drying out by 2025, an interesting Pakistani startup ‘Aqua Agro’, incubated In National Incubation Center Karachi, has come up with an artificial intelligence solution for the farmers to yield more crops with reduced quantity of water resources.

The startup has used natively developed solar-powered IOT enabled devices and deployed them in the fields to monitor ecological conditions such as soil wetness, temperature, humidity, and various other parameters. All this data collected from the farms is then sent to an AI based cloud platform that makes the decision for the farmers on whether the crop needs irrigation or not.

Pakistan is a country with great potential of agriculture. Its main natural resource is the land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops. About 25% of Pakistan's agriculture accounts for about 21% of GDP and employs about 43% of the labour force. Hence, Pakistan’s water spending is based on irrigation. To avoid the water crisis situation in the future, it is necessary to cut down on water currently being used in irrigation and startup in question is helping the business exactly.

The idea has been proved to save 50% of the water as compared to the water consumption using legacy practices. Moreover, a pragmatic increase in the crop yield is observed. Farmers are notified about watering the crops through SMS, email and a mobile application.

The startup aims to raise funds for deploying the technology for 50 small-scale farmers of Pakistan by January 2019. For this purpose, Aqua Agro is running a crowd-funding campaign on Indiegogo.

Those enthusiasts who are willing to make a payment to this cause, can back Aqua Agro’s crowd-funding campaign and become a part of the cause to combat water crisis which will help the country’s agriculture sector survive with reduced water resources and radiate an overall positive effect on the country’s economy.

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