Startups ecosystem attracts $355M investment in 2022

Islamabad: Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) facilitated the young entrepreneurs, under its flagship project of startup ecosystem, which attracted $355 million in investment during the year 2022.

“To facilitate the ecosystem, the IT ministry has drafted policy recommendations for State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR), and Intellectual property Organizations,”, said an official of the Ministry of IT.

He added: “These recommendations will ease up the regulatory process for the startup ecosystem. Ignite is also developing a startup portal which will help investors to review startups under different sectors or thematic areas”.

And eventually, this will help investors do their shopping. Secondly, the startup can also interact with investors and pitch their proposals through that portal. So, it’s a business matchmaking portal which will help startups and investors to build a relationship.

“The IT and Telecom efforts in the last four years made Pakistan a paradise for investment in the IT and Telecom sector,” the official said.

He said eight incubation centers of ignite have created an entrepreneurial vibe in the country which is helping in establishing new startups in almost every sector. The start-ups of the National Incubation Centers established in the country, received an investment of $20 million from various sources last year.

Under the National Freelance Training Program initiated and funded by Ministry of IT, as many as 20 training centers were established across the country.

As many 8,647 graduates, he said, were trained through International standard IT courses, and these students contributed to the country’s economy by earning $23 million through freelancing after training.

During the year 2022, around 1638 new IT companies got registered with Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), while 761 call centers and 1463 freelancers were also registered with the PSEB.

He said the ministry was also establishing specialized incubation centers in agriculture and textile, aerospace technologies and gaming and animation to create more businesses in these areas and boost exports.

For the provision of early-stage investment, he said: “The Ignite was starting an accelerator program so that early-age startups can sustain their businesses”.

Ignite is collaborating with international partners like Plug and Play, orbit, demilitarized zone (DMZ), 500 global and hub 71 so that the local startup ecosystem can be exposed to international investors.

He added that about 33 million people have got themselves registered for freelancing courses under the DG Skills Programs of Ignite, which is 75% more than the target.

By June 2022, the freelancers trained with DG Skills have earned a whopping $290 million, adding to the country’s foreign exchange reserve.