KARACHI: Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan, in partnership with INNOVentures Global (Pvt) Limited, has announced the top seven winners of the Standard Chartered Women in Tech Programme 2021.
Standard Chartered Women in Tech (WiT) support female-led entrepreneurial teams with business management training, mentoring and seed funding. These accelerators were designed to help address gender disparity in the technology sector and to use technology to tackle social challenges faced by communities. They are an important part of our entrepreneurship offering within Future makers by Standard Chartered, our global initiative to tackle inequality and promote economic inclusion.
Standard Chartered Bank in an event made the announcement of the seven women led teams shortlisted from over 350 applicants, win PKR 1,500,000 each, in seed grants for their businesses.
The seven teams were selected from a pool of the top 25 teams previously shortlisted and went through the SCWomenInTech programme for three months where they were offered coaching, mentoring and business management skills to grow their businesses to the next level.
The seven winning companies for 2021 are Civixa, Out Class, Storytellers Club, Abey Khao, Cheezain Etc, MediQ and SLOSH AI.
Civixa is a startup seeking to automate the process of classifying objects and developing algorithms for easy use in artificial intelligence applications. Out Class is an online platform to disrupt the Pakistani tuition market through high quality teaching and delivery.
Storytellers Club is a traditional venture providing co- and extra-curricular storytelling and play for kids aged 2-10 seeking to establish an online presence post-COVID.
Abey Khao is also an innovative venture that provides economic opportunity to the deaf by starting food carts that sell through sign language now seeking to build a digital ordering system. Cheezain Etc is an eCommerce store and one-stop shop for trendy home accessories.
MediQ is a digital health app that provides access to online consultations as well as other related services now seeking to scale. SLOSH AI is a software tool that automates the reading and diagnosis from chest x-rays for radiographers and other service providers.
The awardees will be supported with extended mentoring and milestone-based disbursement of the winnings for a period of 9 months.
Speaking at the event Khadija Hashimi, Head, CABM, AME & Country Head, Pakistan mentioned that social and economic inequality limits individuals and collective potential, stifles growth and can create social disharmony.
Fostering inclusion through active participation in the market economy increases access to opportunity as well as economic growth, she added.
She further said that women have the potential to play a very important role in economic growth and we see, irrespective of industries and sectors, women are breaking barriers in every field - driving social and economic inclusion for communities.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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