Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan and INNOVentures Global (Private) Limited unveiled the winners of #SCWomenInTech Cohort 5, 2023, aiming to promote financial inclusion and enhance women’s representation in technology-based entrepreneurship. The WomenInTech program, which launched in 2019, promotes gender parity in tech entrepreneurship. During the 2023 selection process, a total of twenty-five entrepreneurs from fourteen different business verticals were selected and awarded seed funds and a comprehensive capacity-building program worth around PKR 30 million between 2019 and 2022.
Over 1700 applications from more than 100 places were received for the 2023 program, reflecting a spike in the enthusiasm of female entrepreneurs. Out of them, 300 were chosen to pitch, and 50 finalists from 13 cities were invited based on their eligibility and the distinctiveness of their firm. Twelve industry experts supervised a 2.5-month capacity-building effort for the 25 selected firms, which also included exposure to six local and worldwide role models. Every founder also had a mentor who was an expert in the field to help them during the acceleration stage.
The CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, Mr. Rehan Shaikh, praised the chosen business owners for their contribution to socioeconomic development and the bank’s dedication to fostering financial inclusion. In line with UN Sustainable Development Goals for community wellness, the program seeks to empower women in Pakistan through technology-led entrepreneurship, drawing various founders with an emphasis on Fem-Tech, Health-Tech, Fin-Tech, and other areas.
The WomenInTech initiative is still committed to helping female entrepreneurs succeed by enhancing their abilities to expand their enterprises both domestically and internationally and by creating an inclusive tech community.
Details of the winners are as follows:
| RENT-IT | RENT-IT Disrupting Pakistan’s digital fashion space by making high-end fashion accessible to fashion-forward customers |
| Khair | Khair is Pakistan’s First Period & Pregnancy Tracker · All-in-one Solution to Women’s Health |
| EcoBricks | EcoBricks is a pioneer startup, developing eco-friendly construction materials, bricks and pavers made from non-recyclable plastic waste, and it is ready to disrupt the construction industry |
| Chiragh Education Technologies | Chiragh is a gamified & video-based learning platform that offers learning solutions in local languages. |
| Aesthetics Lab powered by Tibbi | Aesthetics Lab is a unique and innovative health tech startup that is poised to disrupt the aesthetics industry in Pakistan |
| DigiDeaf | DigiDeaf is a platform that provides 360-degree solutions for the educational development, employment, and inclusion of the Deaf community. |
| Irverde-Gogreen | Irverde-Gogreen is a tech-enabled waste management company, that spreads awareness and recycling everything to achieve a zero-waste vision. |
