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Building It Up with Pakistan Startup Cup 2018-19, Build-A-Business Workshop, Lahore

Disclaimer: This Article is updated by Yusra Qasim.

The 5th Edition of the Pakistan Start-up Cup 2018-19 wrapped up in Islamabad and moved towards the bustling city of Lahore, with equally talented individuals and promising start-ups. The first day of the Build-A-Business Workshop commenced on 31st October, 2018, at the Pearl Continental Hotel, despite the current nationwide political unrest.

Pakistan Start-up Cup 2018-19 is a business model competition, powered by GriffinWorx of Silicon Valley, with the collaboration of TiE Islamabad and the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan. It is an initiative to encourage and include individuals who are looking to enhance their businesses. It is a lucrative opportunity for businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups to bring their business ideas in to actuality. It aims at promoting a healthy ecosystem that supports and emboldens entrepreneurs. The workshops are held for two days in the major cities such as, Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Quetta. About 2500+ start-ups take part in this competition to pitch their business ideas and be mentored by highly experienced entrepreneurs who are a veteran in their respective fields.  The selected start-ups go on to the next round where the most apt ideas are rewarded into becoming viable businesses in the market.

Zeeshan Shahid, Executive Director TiE Islamabad, welcomed the mentors and the selected start-ups on the first day at the Build-A-Business workshop Lahore. He gave a general introduction along with heartiest congratulations to those who made it this far with best wishes for the next round! Kevin McClelland, mentor, judge and facilitator of the Build-A-Business workshop as the representative of GriffinWorx, took the floor with his congratulatory speech to the participants and a general schedule of the day’s events. He explained the Business Model Scorecard that was to be used by the participants and the important take away from this workshop. As soon as, the opening addresses were done, the participants were handed out sticky notes and markers, and set off on the days’ task. The mentors roamed amidst the participants and gave advice and guidance to those who needed it. They helped refine the ideas of some participants while streamlined the processes for others.

Although the workshop was conducted for a day, due to the increasing political unrest in the city, the second day was postponed till further notice. However, the first day seemed to be quite fruitful and promising for the start-ups present. Build-A-Business workshop aims to facilitate the expansion of current businesses, teach business model designs, identify solutions to issues that hinder the businesses’ ability to generate revenue and eventually, generate revenue. It also, provides useful insights from the mentors who have experience in identifying the market strategies to target customers, raise funds and connect the like-minded entrepreneurs from among the community.

Among the list of talented and experienced mentors, were the names of Bilal Athar founder of Wifigen, Iftikhar Hussain representative of Women Innovation Network, Mughees Tahir of PlanX and Ahmed Khan of Cheetay. Each mentor proclaimed their amazement and appreciation for the Pakistan Start-up Cup 2018-19 Build-A-Business Workshop in Lahore. They agreed to the fact that such ventures help empower individuals to start their own business and further enable them to collectively be a part of start-up ecosystem for its growth. This particular Start-up Cup 2018-19 is a great learning experience for start-ups in terms of increasing customer validation, go-to market strategies and makes the product better fit to the market. Bilal Athar believes that, ‘It’s never about the great ideas but about the people behind those great ideas.’ He is of the belief that with the right kind of motivation and energy, one can build great companies irrespective of the ideas they have.


Bilal Athar | Wifigen | Build-A-Business Workshop Lahore


Mughees Tahir | PlanX Program Manager | Build-A-Business Workshop Lahore


Iftikhar  Hussain |Women Innovation Network| Build-A-Business Workshop Lahore

The participating start-ups had diverse and innovative ideas, as every single one was different from each other. Some focused on bringing solutions to the technological challenges that businesses faced, while, some emphasized on merging virtual reality in to the fields of Medicine, Architecture, Real Estate and other industries.

Following are some of the Start-ups that participated in the Pakistan Start-up Cup 2018-19, Build-A-Business Workshop, Lahore;

Know more about these startups from the founders themselves here:


Nano IT Solutions | Winning Team.


Umer | Participant | BAB Workshop Lahore


Manage Accounts and Financials through professional help


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