JIS Fund through PERCENT: Ignite BoD approves to conduct feasibility study

The board of directors of Ignite has approved to conduct a feasibility study to establish Jiddat Investment & Support (JIS) Fund through Planning Commission of Pakistan.

The Ignite BoDs under the chairmanship of Shabahat Ali Shah, CEO National Information Technology Board (NITB), approved to publicize the hiring of chief executive officer of the company.

The board also approved to conduct a feasibility study to establish JIS Fund through Planning Commission of Pakistan.

The Fund will improve the access of early stage venture financing to startups, thereby strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Pakistan. The study will analyze the key factors including economic, social, political, financial, legal, regulatory and other relevant conditions including supply and demand analysis that may impact and contribute towards successful operation of the fund.

The board gave its nod to National Grassroots ICT Research Initiative (NGIRI) Programme for the year 2019-20 to promote R&D and innovation at grassroots level by providing financial support to selected Final Year Projects (FYP) of undergraduate students, enrolled in ICT-related disciplines of public and private sector institutions.

A senior official said Ignite financed proposals/ideas with Rs 3 billion during the last one-and-a-half-year while attracted additional Rs 4 billion from private sector. Ignite collaborated with Ministry of Information Technology & Telecom (MoITT) and established five National Incubation Centres (NICs) across the country. The Ignite has created over 11,000 jobs, besides incubating 117 start-ups across these five incubation centres which have raised over Rs 4 billion in investments to scale their operations, and also refined their products and generated Rs 900 million revenue so far.

Under the Ignite supervision, 'Fly High with Wi-Fi' has been developed which is a low-cost internet service provision to under-served areas in Balochistan, interior Sindh and FATA through drones. Prototype has been completed and is currently being tested. The technology would facilitate 2G and 3G within a radius of 5 kilometres.

Integry, another Ignite sponsored product, provides ready-to-use integrations that one can drop in his/her app. Users can then bring their data from other apps into app and have a 40 percent reduced churn, double the LTV and which is also incubated at the Alchemist, a famous accelerator in US. Integry has been a part of the NIC Islamabad with investment commitment of Rs 94.5 million.

Mauqa.online is an impact based start-up providing an on-demand service that matches temporary workers to household help in Islamabad. It is Uber for the blue-collar workforce, employed from slums across within cities. PakVitae is a nanotechnology based startup that has developed a patented water filter which uses no energy. It purifies water to 99.9999 percent purity and provides clean drinkable water at less than one paisa (Rs 0.01) per litre. It will affect millions of people who do not have access to clean drinking water at the most affordable price. This technology develops products that have the capability of purifying water. The technology fetched investment commitment of Rs 2.6 billion and generated Rs 5 million.

Fine trading and living led by a woman entrepreneur, is impacting the lives of people at the bottom of the pyramid. They sell household needs to daily wage earners with a very unique model of providing customers with goods on day one without any deposit and collect daily installments. The start-up achieved the investment commitment of Rs 30 million.

Aero Craft Engine led by Dr Sarah Qureshi, a PhD from Cranfield UK, leads a company that has developed a patented design for attachment to engines of jet liners to suppress water vapours trails at high altitudes. This simple invention has huge impact on global warming as frozen water vapours are at least five times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Aero Craft Engine raised over Rs 23 million investments.

Bera offers indigenous craft of Peshawari shoemaking with a mix of century-old skills and modern fashion. Offering luxurious Peshawari Chappals, Bera develops its products with quality materials offering comfort and market dominant design. Bera has raised Rs 5 million in funding. DarEwro, a Peshawar-based start-up, has an app that picks up food, medicine and clothes for customers. They partner with local businesses to pick up orders and deliver them directly to customers' homes. DarEwro has raised Rs 3.9 million in funding.

Aprus is an electrosurgical instrument that has been developed to remove tumours, cut tissues, and seal blood vessels with increased hygiene and precision. Over 100 units of this device have been deployed across clinics and hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and have been utilized in over 70,000 surgeries. Aprus secured funding of Rs 30.5 million.