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Highlights
ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT 1
We would like to congratulate Muhammad Hassan Khan, CEO of Trax, a logistics-based startup for the digital economy, who raised $3.7 million in seed funding from a consortium of strategic investors.
The round was co-led by US-based Amaana Capital, making its second direct investment into Pakistan, and UAE-based Tricap Investments. PNO Ventures committed to the round along with angel investors including Omer Ismail (CEO of One, a Walmart-backed fintech) and Jahanzeb Sherwani (a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur).
ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT 2
On 14th January 2023 IBA-CED celebrated the fundraising success of its incubated company Valeem.
Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz – Director IBA-CED, welcomed the guests, speakers, and all the participants. She congratulated the “Valeem” for successfully raising pre-seed funding from a US-based angel investor. Mr. Ali Rehan and Mr. Ghayas uddin – Co-founders of Valeem and IBA alumni, appreciated the integral role played by IBA-CED in Valeem’s success and thanked the IBA-CED team for their continued support in Valeem’s journey. Various stakeholders of Valeem were present in the event, and were briefed about their future plans of expansion and growing the business.
CLICK MoU
The Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi and Sindh Investment Department signed an agreement on Wednesday 8th February 2023 for conducting a study on constraints being faced by women owned and managed businesses in Karachi. Dr. Syed Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director IBA Karachi and Mr. Anwar Ali Shar, Project Director CLICK-SID signed the agreement. The occasion was graced by Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, Special Assistant to CM on Investment & PPP Project, Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, Secretary Sindh Investment Department, and other distinguished guests from both, the Sindh Investment Department and IBA Karachi.
Dr. S Akbar Zaidi highlighted the importance of the project and its benefit for improving policies to increase participation of women in business activities. He introduced the IBA Project Team, led by Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz, Director, CED and Assistant Professor, SBS and team members, Dr. Khadija Bari, Director PRC, Associate Professor SESS, Dr. Farah Naz, Chairperson and Assistant Professor, SBS, and Mr. Azad Ahmed, Manager, CED- IBA.
Grand Finale of IBA-Saudagran Entrepreneurship Program (ISEP) – Batch 2!
The Graduation Ceremony of IBA-Saudagran Entrepreneurship Program (ISEP) was held at IBA City Campus on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz, Director, IBA-CED; welcomed the Chief Guest, Mr. Abdullah Feroz, and Guest of Honor, Mr. Aslam Khaliq; and briefed them about the program’s progress and outcome.
The Graduation Certificates were distributed among 32 successful participants of IBA-Saudagran Entrepreneurship Program (ISEP) – Batch 2.
The event was also marked for Launching the Third Batch of ISEP and an MOU was also signed by IBA CED and DPSF in this regard. Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz, Director, IBA CED, and Mr. Khurram Yahya, Secretary General, DPSF, signed the agreement.
The Guest of Honor and Chief Guest appreciated the efforts of IBA CED for the promotion of Entrepreneurship among the youth of Pakistan and extended full support for mentoring and guidance of these young entrepreneurs.
Mr. Khurram Yahya, Mr. Ahsan Jabbar, Mr. Irfan Abdullah, Mr. Mansoor Mubeen, and Mr. Ahmed Faisal represented DPSF in the event.
HEC Road Show
IBA CED in collaboration with HEC Pakistan The Higher Education Commission (HEC) is organizing a roadshow/awareness drive on the “Prime Minister’s National Innovation Award (PMNIA)” at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi. IBA CED in collaboration with HEC conducted Awareness Drive of Prime Minister’s Innovation Award on 7th Nov 2022
INVENT Training
IBA-CED and IBA Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance jointly conducted the 4-day online training of Invent 2022 for the selected 59 startups of Invent 2022. The program began with the introductory remarks of Dr. Amber Gul Rashid and welcome note by Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz – Director IBA-CED.
Day one and four of the training were conducted by the trainers from IBA-CED including Miss Kanza Sohail, Dr. Saima Husain and Mr. Sohaib Ahmed. Day two and three of the training were conducted by the trainers from IBA CEIF including Mr. Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Mr. Jawad Tahsin, Mufti Abu Bakr and Mr. Shariq Ahmed Khan.
INVENT 2022
IBA Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and IBA Center for Excellence in Islamic Finance (CEIF) successfully concluded the IBA INVENT 2022 on Saturday 25th February 2023. The IBA INVENT 2022 provided excellent opportunities to the entrepreneurs to not only showcase their ventures in front of potential investors but also provided them with unique learning opportunity to polish their entrepreneurial skills. Nelson Paints was the Platinum Sponsor while Meezan Bank, and Ihsan Trust were the Strategic Partners for INVENT 2022.
The final pitches were conducted on Saturday, February 25th, 2023 at IBA City Campus. Mr. Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Director IBA CEIF, welcomed the participants and shared the objectives behind the collaboration of IBA CED and IBA CEIF for jointly conducting the INVENT 2022. The panel of judges comprised of Dr. Imran Khan, Assistant Professor, IBA Karachi; Dr. Syed Yasir Aqueel, M.D, Plan B Media Group; Dr. Amir Adam, Director Marketing, Nelson Paints; Mr. Mohammad Adil Sami, Head of Marketing, Meezan Bank; Mr. Mahmood Ali Siddiqui, CEO, Createch Global Solutions, and Mufti Muhammad Abu Bakr.
The startups that presented their final pitches were Chiragh Education Technologies, Creative 3D, Edversity, Enviro Solutions, Green Fuel, iParhai, KEY (Keep Educating Yourself), Moving Food, Renee’ Bath and Beauty, Smart Wheelchair using IoT and VPS Connect. Among these startups, Edversity joined from Islamabad and Moving Food came all the way from Quetta, while rest of the startups were from Karachi.
Dr. Ishrat Husain, Professor Emeritus, IBA; graced the prize distribution ceremony as Chief Guest. The panel awarded the first prize of PKR 300,000 to Renee’ Bath and Beauty, second prize of PKR 200,000 to Chiragh Education Technologies and third prize of PKR 100,000 to Edversity.
Dr. Ishrat expressed that the seed he sowed back in 2010 in the shape of IBA CED is now a tall tree bearing fruits to the startups all over Pakistan. He congratulated the winning startups and appreciated the efforts of IBA CED and IBA CEIF for successfully organizing the INVENT 2022.
MoU KaraKoram International University
The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) and Karakoram International University (KIU) signed an MoU on 5th May 2023, to have a collaboration between ORIC and Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) at IBA Main Campus. This MoU was signed by Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director IBA and Dr. Attaullah Shah, Vice Chancellor, KIU. Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz, Director IBA-CED represented CED and Dr. Rehmat Karim, Director KIU Hunza Campus, represented ORIC department. The objective of this MOU is to establish collaboration between IBA-CED and ORIC, Karakoram University for entrepreneurship related joint training and research projects. Both the universities agreed to work together for entrepreneurship training, startup and student exchange for development of entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Closeout Event of USAID Small and Medium Enterprises Activity (SMEA)
IBA-CED team was invited to attend a closeout event of USAID Small and Medium Enterprises Activity (SMEA) held in Islamabad. The Closeout Event of USAID SMEA in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week, was conducted on November 15th and 16th, 2022, at Serena Hotel, Islamabad. The day one comprised of the sessions and panel discussions regarding the SMEA’s activities during 2016 – 2022. Over the past six years, the USAID SMEA has supported more than 6,000 SMEs and awarded grants to 141 SMEs, generating $158 million in revenue, leveraging $51.5 million in private sector investment, and increasing exports by $74 million. Out of the 6,000 SMEs that SMEA supported, 28 percent were women owned. SMEA also created almost 48,900 jobs, of which 30 percent were filled by women.
USAID Mission Director, Reed J. Aeschliman visited the IBA-CED kiosk in the event hall on 15th November 2022. IBA-CED team briefed Mr. Reed about the activities, programs and the IBA-USAID SMEA Entrepreneurship Development Program from MSMEs of Balochistan Province. The USAID Mission Director was excited to hear that 240+ MSMEs in 6 cities of Balochistan (Quetta, Loralai, Sibi, Lasbela, Khuzdar and Turbat) were trained and appreciated the efforts and collaboration of IBA-CED.
On second day, U.S. Ambassador Donald Blome, joined by the Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, formally launched the next United States government-led initiative to enhance U.S.- Pakistan bilateral trade. The Investment Promotion Activity (IPA), implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is a five-year project that will help strengthen Pakistan’s business environment, build the capacity of Pakistani institutions focused on investment promotion, attract foreign direct investment, and increase U.S.-Pakistan bilateral trade and investment. Overall, the project aims to reduce barriers to investment and trade by improving Pakistan’s investment promotion capabilities.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)’s Poverty Alleviation and Inclusive Development across Rural Sindh (PAIDAR) organized a two months training program on Cluster Development Methodology in between January – February 2023 at NED Karachi. Two CED staff members; Asghar Azmi Project Consultant CED, and Misbah Amin, Senior Executive CED attended the capacity building training. PAIDAR is a five-year programme, implemented by UNIDO, this programme is funded by the EU and supports the government of Sindh which aims to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction and improve the livelihoods of poor communities including women and youth in Sindh province.
The power of women entrepreneurs unlocked at the IBA Karachi
March 15, 2023: The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi’sAman Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) organized a summit on ‘Unlocking The Power of Women Entrepreneurs’, collaboratively with CLICK, Sindh Investment Department and IBA’s Alumni Affairs Department at the J.S. Auditorium, IBA City Campus.
The Chief Guest at the event was Ms. Shazia Marri, Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, and Chairperson, Benazir Income Support Programme. Dignitaries from The World Bank, the Sindh Investment Department (SID), Mr. Muhammad Sohail, Alumni Representative on the IBA Board of Governors and women entrepreneurs also graced the occasion. The summit was a full house brimming with women!
Dr. S Akbar Zaidi, Executive Director, IBA Karachi delivered the opening remarks and spoke about the very important role women play in the society if given equal opportunities, and access to finance and trainings.
Ms. Marri highlighted the need train women so they can contribute to the economy of the country. She mentioned that if human capital is developed, more inclusive societies will emerge.
Following the Chief Guest’s remarks, a panel discussion commenced featuring eminent women entrepreneurs: Misbah Naqvi, Early-Stage Investor, Co-Founder & General Partner at i2i Ventures, Kauffman Fellow; Nadia Patel Gangjee, Founder Sheops, Founder & CEO Femprow; Saeeda Mandviwalla CEO & Art Director, Toni&Guy and CEO, Spa Ceylon; and Tara Uzra Dawood, CEO, LadiesFund, Board Member, Pakistan State Oil and Dawood Family Takaful Limited. The session was moderated by Dr. Saima Husain, Assistant Professor and Director, Quality Enhancement Cell, IBA.
The women entrepreneurs shared their life experiences, their struggles and challenges, and what enabled them to become changemakers.
Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Investment and Public Private Projects, spoke about the outcome of the CLICK project which will enable the government and policy planners to take necessary actions for facilitating women in the formal economy.
Dr. Lalarukh Ejaz, Assistant Professor and Director, IBA-AMAN CED delivered the closing remarks, thanked SID and CLICK for their support, and distributed the mementos among the chief guest and panelists.
A total of 27 IBA female students and alumni showcased their start-ups and businesses at the event. The event was a remarkable opportunity to network with various stakeholders.
Upcoming Events
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