Telenor Velocity graduates startups of Cohort 2

Telenor Velocity, the digital accelerator of Telenor Pakistan, hosted a Graduation Night in Lahore yesterday to graduate six startups from their Cohort 2. This time around, the event had a modern and minimalistic setting, with a strong focus on building startup’s rapport with the investors. The event attendees included venture capitalists, angel investors, expert mentors, Telenor Pakistan officials, technology leaders and key players from the startup community. Humayun Mazhar, CEO and Founder of CresVentures attended the event as the keynote speaker. Also present on the occasion were Dr. Umar Saif – Chairman PITB, NabeelQadeer – Director PITB, Khurram Zafar – Founder 47 Ventures, and Faisal Sherjan – Director LCE.

This evening was organized on the sole philosophy that ‘the best investments happen because of relationships.’ Graduation Night, therefore, provided a platform to startups to pitch their products and converse with investors, mentors and Telenor Pakistan officials, all under one roof. The startups got the opportunity to pitch for investments, partnerships and collaborations as well as kick start conversations that lead to stronger relationships.

“I congratulate the Velocity cohort 2 graduates and wish they make it big as they’re now equipped with what it takes to be successful in a digital marketplace,” said Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO Telenor Pakistan, while speaking at the event. “I am positive that the purpose of organizing this Graduation Night was effectively met with startup founders pitching their products to important people and networking with them, exchanging ideas, and strengthening Pakistan’s startup community. With programs like Velocity, we at Telenor Pakistan will continue our efforts to develop and nurture digital entrepreneurs in the country and make the best of our contributions to reinforce the digital ecosystem that we have built and promoted here.”

Shopsy.pk, Pakshine, Daastan,Artsy.pk, MicropowerLabs, and Perkup were the startups that pitched at the event. Most of these startups have raised grants and investments previously. They are currently at their go-to-market stage, where they have already tested their products and gained remarkable traction. Currently, Pakshine, Artsy.pk and MicrpowerLabs are looking for money injection to scale their operations and reach new customers.

The Graduation Night marks the official graduation of these startups from Telenor Velocity’s program. To date, the program has helped its startups reach out to millions of potential customers from the 40 million customer base of Telenor Pakistan, connect with more than 30 mentors, and collectively enable them to raise funding that amounts up to $650K USD.

Applications for Telenor Velocity’s Cohort 3 are now open and can be submitted online at https://telenorvelocity.com.pk/apply/. Their go-to-market offerings to startups include office hours with the finest mentors, access to investors from all across Pakistan, co-working space, access to 40 million customers, online payment solutions and a chance to pitch for seed funding of USD 10,000 to Telenor Pakistan.

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