Category: Business

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Guiding young leaders on their path to success, Telenor Pakistan’s Digital Accelerator Program, Telenor Velocity, has opened its doors to applications from startups for its 8th Cohort. Startups in the Velocity program are offered business development support and mentorship via Telenor Pakistan’s experts, analytics, and exclusive access to scaling opportunities.

Telenor Velocity’s 8th Cohort invites applications from startups that specialize in agritech, edtech fintech, m-health, Internet of Things (IOT), media and entertainment, and more. Startups that have been in the market for more than two years will be selected and offered scaling opportunities leveraging Telenor Pakistan’s digital assets and expertise. The 5 startups finalized to be a part of Velocity’s 8^th Cohort will be supported to reach their target audience and will also enjoy special access to Telenor Pakistan’s APIs, data analytics and insights, and support in public outreach and marketing. There have been some successful pilots with startups like Deaftawk, Oladoc, Sehat Kahani, Digikhata and many more where they were not only provided the scale and access to new markets but earned incremental revenue with Telenor Pakistan.

Commenting on the development, Areej Khan, Vice President Digital at Telenor Pakistan said, “The nation’s young leaders are the key to successfully achieve the Digital Pakistan ambition. With mentorship and guidance from experts with decades of experience, we aim at equipping Telenor Velocity’s startups with the necessary tools to give form to their unique ideas. Pakistan’s young minds possess talent and creativity in abundance; and Velocity amplifies those skills while amplifying innovative opportunities through technology.”

Telenor Velocity has equipped startups from different industry verticals with the tools necessary to thrive, create employment, and contribute to the economy. Some success stories from previous years include Pak Agri Market, scaled in more than 120 tehsils in Punjab since 2019; OlaDoc, a mobile medical health service being used by 10 million MyTelenor App customers; Sehat Kahani’s improved data analysis and marketing resulted in an additional outreach of 6 million customers; Digi Khata extended their services to more than 200,000 retailers across the nation, via the Apollo app; and finally, Deaftawk, a sign language interpretation app, catering to 466 million deaf people globally, was featured in Telenor Pakistan’s TV commercial.

Launched in 2016, Telenor Velocity is Telenor Pakistan’s Digital Startup Accelerator, fostering an environment of innovation and collaboration, enabling the nation’s tech-startups to co-create new digital products and services. So far, Telenor Velocity has conducted 7 cohorts, with 40 graduated start-ups, 4+ pilot runs, $40,000 pilot investment, and $5 million investment raised by Telenor Velocity start-ups. To apply for Telenor Velocity’s 8^th Cohort, please fill out the application form:

 http://gust.com/programs/8th-cohort-telenor-velocity-4 .  

Last date to apply is 20^th February 2022.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) the leading international wholesale company, joins the consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Karachi for the launch of an environmental project at Clifton’s Aunty Park. As part of Corporate Social Responsibility, METRO Pakistan provided the cleaning equipment, gloves, garbage bags and bins, and extended its support for the initiative. The DG Parks Karachi, Mr. Junaidullah Khan, was the chief guest for the occasion.

Speaking at the occasion, Mrs Birgit Nicole Kuhlmann, the Deputy Head of Mission at the German Consulate General in Karachi, said “We are here to inaugurate the Aunty Park environmental project 2022, together with our Pakistani partners METRO and TrashIt. We will be refurbishing and cleaning up the park, and will be placing garbage bins, and at the same time we will be running awareness drive for cleanliness of the premises and protection of the nature”.

Representing METRO, Mr. Imran Shamim, Senior Manager Corporate Affairs, said “METRO being the biggest wholesale company always supports the constructive initiatives to protect environment and nature, and today we have sponsored this activity by the German Consulate Karachi. Such projects are necessary for less polluted and healthy public spaces.”

METRO Pakistan is working on many sustainable and green projects throughout Pakistan, and has been the first wholesale company to shift to solar power solutions to generate clean and green energy and to reduce 260,000 kg of carbon emissions per year.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) BankIslami, Pakistan’s leading Islamic finance institution, and Karachi Kings, the 2020 PSL Champions signed a Platinum sponsorship agreement for the upcoming 2022 season of the tournament. The ceremony was held at BankIslami’s Regional Office, Business and Finance Center, Karachi. It was attended by Syed Amir Ali, President & CEO BankIslami, Salman Iqbal, CEO ARY TV, Muhammad Amir, Sharjeel Khan and Umaid Asif from Karachi Kings as well as other members of the senior management from both parties. PSL 7 is set to begin on January 27th in Karachi.

The Pakistan Super League is the most celebrated annual cricketing event that features international players from around the world. Karachi Kings is the home team for the biggest city in Pakistan and were the champions of PSL 2020. The team represents the city of Karachi that is a bustling metropolitan hub housing a diverse array of cultures and races in a collaborative environment. BankIslami is the first scheduled Islamic bank in the country and rose to become one of the most technologically advanced organizations providing a diverse portfolio through a modern approach of Sharia-compliant banking solutions to customers. As the official sponsor for Karachi King’s franchise, BankIslami aims to promote not just the sport of cricket but also the ambition of younger players in the country to rise and achieve their true potential.

Commenting on the development, President and CEO, BankIslami, Syed Amir Ali, stated; “PSL is a high-profile national tournament and Karachi Kings is our home team. BankIslami has always been at the forefront of facilitating endeavors that the nation is always excited about. This partnership with Karachi Kings is another step towards showcasing our efforts in not just facilitating Pakistan’s sporting culture but also local initiatives of every kind. Our objective that is highlighted in the ‘Jeetay Ga Pakistan’ tagline explains the true spirit of this partnership that no matter which team wins, at the end of day, Pakistan emerges victorious.”

Karachi Kings is one of the strongest teams in PSL 7 with star players like Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Muhammad Amir and many more making them favorites to take the crown home this year.

Lahore (NUT DESK)

EFG Hermes Pakistan, a subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding, announced today that it has been named Best International Brokerage Firm in Pakistan for the first time in the 32nd annual Asiamoney Brokers Poll, Asia’s chief equity research poll held today on Tuesday. The Firmalso ranked third in the Best Brokerages for Research, Best Brokerages for Sales, Best Brokerages for Corporate Access, and Best Brokerages for Execution categories.

The Asiamoney Brokers Poll is a voxpopuli poll that identifies the leading brokerage firms for equities research, sales, and trading in Asia. The Voters are institutional investors who represent fund management firms, wealth managers, hedge funds, pension funds, and insurance companies that trade in Asia. A total of 5,734 valid individual responses from 2,876 different institutions, including 462 hedge funds were received.

“The recognition that the team in Pakistan has garnered in the Asiamoney Brokers Poll is a true testament to the kind of foothold that EFG Hermes has been able to attain outside of our core MENA marketsand highlightsthe Firm’s unrivaled frontier market offering,” said Ali Khalpey, CEO of EFG Hermes Frontier. “It is an honor to be distinguished for our hard work by our clients in Asia, and we are excited to continue exceeding their expectations with our service offering, as we work to be a positive partner for economic development in Pakistan and build further upon our presence in the region.”

In 2021, EFG Hermes maintained its first-place ranking in the Kenyan marketand increased its market share in Pakistan to 3.3%, due to higher foreign institutional executions. In December, the Firm’s Investment Banking division successfully concluded advisory to TPG’s Evercare Group on the sale of its 50% stake in Islamabad Diagnostic Centre to Integrated Diagnostics Holding for a total consideration of USD 72.35 million, marking EFG Hermes’ first M&A transaction in Pakistan. In the upcoming years, the Firm is pursuing expansion in additional core Asia markets, in a path guided by the current clients’ needs and market developments.

“We are extremely proud of our team for being awarded these prestigious recognitions as a result of their rigorous commitment to offering world-class services and meeting our clients’ ever-evolving needs,”commentedSaad Iqbal,Head of Brokerage and Acting Chief Executive Officer of EFG HermesPakistan.

“We are thrilled to have been voted for as the Best International Brokerage Firm – amongother recognitions – by our institutional clients, attesting to our position as the broker of choice in the Pakistani market.”

• Lahore-based Taro Technologies secures US $3.5M in pre-seed funding
• National retailers can soon quickly and easily offer Taro’s installment payment options to Pakistan’s consumers, both in-store and online
• Taro is the only Sharia-friendly BNPL Company in Pakistan, designed to support consumer lifestyle needs with an aim to increase purchasing power and liquidity. 
• Partnership with Cashew Payments will enhance Taro’s position as Pakistan’s leading provider of installment payments for e-commerce purchases
• Highlights the capabilities of Pakistan’s fintech companies and Lahore as a growing tech hub

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Taro Technologies, an emerging fintech startup in Pakistan, has secured US$3.5 Million in pre-seed funding through a combination of strategic partnerships and angel investors to launch a Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) venture in Pakistan. As part of their pre-seed round, Taro has partnered with Dubai-based Cashew Payments – a BNPL leader in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – to accelerate its 2022 Q1 launch and growth.

Mustafa Khan, CEO of Taro and former Silicon Valley Apple engineer, has stressed that this partnership will enable Taro to be an established player straight out of the gate, stating: “Our collaboration with Cashew provides critical insights into risk, merchant acquisition, operations, and customer retention. Those insights paired with support from their experienced and accomplished leadership team position us for a strong launch and to quickly dominate the market.”

The partnership with Cashew Payments puts the local Lahore fintech company on the global tech map for online instant financing solutions.

Ammar Afif, CEO of cashew, said: “We are delighted to partner with Taro, in providing ‘Buy now, Pay later’ solutions for merchants and consumers in Pakistan,” Afif continued. “As we’ve grown our business in the GCC, we recognized the need for retailers in Pakistan to have a seamless way of offering flexible payment options to consumers in multiple industries. Through our partnership with Taro, all retailers in Pakistan can soon rapidly activate Taro’s installment payments for consumers across all channels online and offline.”

While the GCC has close ties with Pakistan, learnings from the GCC will still need to be tailored for Pakistan before they can be successfully applied locally. As such, Taro CEO Mustafa Khan, now based in Lahore, has been busy expanding his local network.

“To prime our Q1 launch, we’ve also been busy on the ground in Lahore hiring a talented core team with significant fintech expertise. Along with our core team, we’ve arranged partnerships with local financial and technical firms that will ensure a strong and successful launch.” – Mustafa Khan

The BNPL venture intends to help provide new forms of credit to all Pakistanis, especially the underbanked, with Mustafa’s enthusiasm captured in the quote below:

“I am thrilled to be launching BNPL in Pakistan through Taro. I’ve noticed Pakistanis are eager for access to new technology that puts them in control. By offering lending services to a wider range of people, we can help provide the control and flexibility they desire”

Pakistan’s e-commerce sector has seen a lot of growth in the past fiscal year of 2021, with a spend of around US$7.2 Billion. Taro seeks to provide easy access to credit for all Pakistanis, allowing increased access to e-commerce outlets. The company is looking to expand their operations across the country and eventually beyond.

Taro Technologies is a rising BNPL star and plans to provide flexible payment options and access to new forms of credit to Pakistani customers, while also enabling merchants (who are looking for more payment options) to grow sales and increase their market reach.

Karachi (Muhammad Yasir) TPL Trakker, Pakistan’s leading digital mapping, tracking and IoT services provider has partnered with Pakistan’s fastest growing Agri-tech platform Jiye Technologies to provide location-based services. The collaboration between two revolutionary solution providers in their respective categories is designed to enhance Jiye Tech’s ability to support farmers and other businesses associated with Pakistan’s agriculture sector in bolstering a digital transformation of the existing ecosystem. 

Agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to Pakistan’s economy employing 42.3% of the work force in the country and offers 18.9% share in the GDP. Jiye Technologies is a rapidly growing Agri-tech platform that connects farmers and businesses through a lean supply chain model. This collaboration by TPL Trakker is the first step in providing a robust infrastructure for growth to Jiye’s platform for creating a modern as well as sustainable landscape for progress in the agri-tech sector. This segment has for long operated through traditional methods but with transformation of global ecosystems, digitization has become imperative for sowing the seeds for brighter prospects in the industry and TPL Trakker is honored to provide appropriate foundations for it. 

Commenting on the partnership, Sarwar Ali Khan, CEO, TPL Trakker stated; “TPL Trakker is always at the forefront for partnering with established as well as emerging organizations that share the same values as our organization. As a forward thinking organization we firmly believe in progressive facilitation of evolving digital ecosystems. Our collaboration with Jiye Technologies is a personification of our objectives to support startups especially in the Agri-tech sector where they can make a lasting impact for all stakeholders.”

Sharing his thoughts on the partnership, Ali Amin, Co-Founder, Jiye Technologies commented, “At Jiye Technologies, we’re always looking for the most optimal solutions while keeping our customers’ best interests at heart.  We’re very happy to have partnered with TPL Trakker, an organization that also believes in the possibilities that digital transformation can create for the agriculture sector in Pakistan; and with their help, we move another step forward in building a lean supply chain system that is the most efficient with accurate and on time deliveries.”

TPL Trakker is the provider of mapping and telematics solutions to some of Pakistan’s leading organizations working in food delivery, power generation, ride hailing among numerous others.  

Lahore (NUT-DESK)

Under the “Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules, 2021”, significant social media companies are required to register with PTA.

In this context, Joyo Technology Pakistan Pvt Ltd (Snack Video) and BIGO Service Pakistan Pvt Ltd (BIGO Live, Likee) are the first to register with PTA. Representatives of the two companies attended the event, held today at PTA Headquarters, Islamabad and completed the registration process. The companies were awarded the “Registration Certificates”.

The event was attended by the Chairman and Members of the Authority besides representatives of the concerned Technology Companies and senior officials from PTA.

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Lahore (Nut Desk)

realme, the world’s fastest-growing smartphone brand, today officially announced a 40 million sales volumes milestone of its popular realme Number smartphone lines.

According to Strategy Analytics, realme’s number series was ranked No. 04 as of Q3 2021 by consolidated shipments among the ‘New Age Smartphone Families’, which has been pivotal to its scale up to be the fastest brand ever to ship 100 million units in the entire smartphone history. “New Age Smartphone Families” are defined as smartphone product lines launched since 2018, including Reno from OPPO, iQoo from vivo and Galaxy M from Samsung.

As one of the fastest Android smartphone product lines to reach 40 million shipments, the realme Number series achieve this milestone in only 14 quarters after realme 1 was launched in 2018. Before that, only Samsung A Series, Xiaomi Redmi Series, Oppo A Series, and Vivo iQoo Series, reached this milestone.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan’s leading cellular services provider and the digital frontrunner, Zong 4G has yet again empowered its customers to meet their specific digital connectivity needs in today’s fast-paced world by introducing the industry’s most innovative Make Your Own Package. Now Zong customers have the freedom and convenience to make their own customized Package as per their needs at the best possible rates either by dialing *3031# or by logging in to My Zong App. Customers have option to select their desired validity (3, 7 & 30 days) along with resources which include Social Data GBs for Facebook, WhatsApp & YouTube, all-purpose Data GBs, Zong Minutes, Other Network Mins and SMS. Upon selection of the desired incentives customer will be required to make payment through their balance only for the incentives they have selected. “The MYOP is yet another testament to Zong’s customer-first approach where our focus is to facilitate our users in the most innovative and flexible ways. Seamless digital connectivity is the first step towards digital inclusion and we hope that MYOP will help plug the existing digital penetration gaps in Pakistan.” Shared Zong 4G’s spokesperson As a customer-centric company, Zong aims to uplift its customers’ experience to newer heights. Through its most advanced digital solutions, Pakistan’s leading telecommunication network is innovating to provide sought-after solutions, services, and offers to its customers and promises to continue doing so in the future.

Lahore (Muhammad Yasir) Pakistan’s logistics giant TCS Private Limited recently transported another pharmaceutical shipment by road to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, following TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) protocols, administered by the United Nations International Road Transport Union (IRU). TCS Private Limited is the first Pakistani Company to have qualified for international operations with Pakistani trucks and drivers. Amongst the requirements for this qualification are an Electronic Customs User Interface and an international guarantee in favor of the ‘World Customs Organization’. More Pakistani Companies are now lining up for this qualification as a direct result.

TCS Private Limited’s vehicle entered Uzbekistan on January 12, 2022, after navigating through days of heavy snowfall across Afghanistan’s mountains. In a historic first, the TCS Private Limited crew, in freezing cold but enthused with a sense of purpose, spent a night inside their truck on the famous Friendship Bridge, which constitutes the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan because the gates of both countries closed for the night just as the TCS Private Limited TIR truck was crossing the bridge.

Incidents such as these and its earlier piloting of TIR protocols pertaining to Land, Customs and Border procedures have given TCS Private Limited invaluable experience for operating future trade routes between Pakistan and the Central Asian Republics. This landmark mission was achieved by TCS Private Limited in close coordination with the Ministry of Commerce, and the Pakistan National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (PNC-ICC), and the Uzbek International Forwarders Association (UIFA).

In a statement on the occasion, TCS Private Limited’s Co-Founder and Chairman Khalid Nawaz Awan, said, “We are proud to be trail-blazing new routes and trade corridors that will rejuvenate the economies of this region. As Pakistan’s logistics backbone, TCS Private Limited will extend its physical footprint by opening its Sales and Customer Support Offices in countries across the region”.

Earlier in 2021, the TCS Private Limited pilot was supported by Pakistan Regional Economic Integration Activity (PREIA) and USAID (United States Agency for International Development). The entire project was widely lauded by the Uzbek and Pakistani governments in July 2021, during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Tashkent.