She loves Tech – the world’s largest tech startup competition for women is back for the third time this year in Pakistan. After receiving over 100 applications from women led businesses across Pakistan, the CIRCLE team of 6 women travelled 1,241km from Karachi by the Karakoram express to reach Lahore for the regional round at Colabs. This competition is a great opportunity for startups with female founders or a large female consumer base to showcase their startups to top investors and a stellar group of judges.
emale entrepreneurs often do not get access or visibility to networks, and She Loves Tech Pakistan is changing this. After the Lahore round, CIRCLE team will take She Loves Tech to hold rounds in Islamabad, Abbottabad and Peshawar after which there will be a final round in Karachi, where some of the best women startups and innovators will join.
The Lahore She Loves Tech round started off with a welcome speech from the CIRCLE founder – Sadaffe Abid who spoke about the power of entrepreneurship and technology for improving Pakistan’s economy and the key role that women play. This was followed by a series of inspirational talks including MominaSibtain- Founder of Momina’s mixplate of Momina’s Mixed Plate and a Panel Talk on the Future of Work which included Faisal Sherjan – (Director NIC Lahore), Attiq Ahmed (Architect and Prof at NCA) amongst others.
6 female-led innovative startups pitched their ideas which were assessed by judges including Humayun Mazhar-CEO of Cres Ventures, followed by an Improv done by Propaganda. 3 startups have been selected to join the Finals in Karachi.
She Loves Tech was launched in Pakistan in 2017 by CIRCLE to encourage women startups to showcase their work to a large audience. Every year the national winner travels to China to attend the She Loves Tech Global conference and pitch their startup to an international audience. The final winner at the round in Beijing will receive an equity free cash prize of $15000 and get the opportunity to attend high level boot camps visit leading tech companies (Baidu and Xiaomi).
Last year’s winner Saba Khalid won the national round with her Raaji; a Chatbot which educates young girls on health hygiene and other relevant issues. Interloop is a Platinum Sponsor for She Loves Tech Pakistan a leading Pakistan company in support of its mission to promote diversity inclusion & technology. UDDP is supporting She Loves Tech Pakistan to further its goals of youth empowerment esp women and girls. The CIRCLE team is now going to run the She Loves Tech Islamabad Round with NIC Islamabad where Yusuf Hussain Ignite CEO and several distinguished guests startups and delegates will join.
Sadaffe Abid, former CEO & COO of Kashf foundation and Founder CIRCLE said, ‘Pakistan needs to create opportunities for women to come forward, learn technology, experiment and grow.’
CIRCLE aims to advance women’s economic participation through entrepreneurship, technology and leadership labs. Omar Shah, CEO COLABS, a partner and a judge for She Loves Tech Lahore round shared “Collaborative work spaces drive innovation and promote women empowerment in the country”.