To support budding Pakistani startups on a larger scale, Telenor has widened the scope of its flagship ‘Velocity’ accelerator by partnering with incubation centers and other accelerators across the nation. Telenor Velocity is Pakistan’s first telco-led accelerator that helps promising startups overcome the barriers holding their business back and work closely to identify steps they need to take to achieve rapid and sustainable growth.
Through the Velocity Partnership Program, country’s top incubators, accelerators, investors and co-working places can partner with Velocity and gain access to a comprehensive suite of services and tools that can prove pivotal to the growth and sustainability of their startups.NIC Peshawar, NIC Karachi, Plan X, Plan9, NSPIRE, 10xC, GIKI and Daftarkhwan and have already joined the Velocity Partnership Program with their startups gaining access to the Velocity Suite.
“At Telenor Velocity, we believe that innovation is paramount to finding solutions to today’s challenges, regardless of how big or small they are. That is the reason why we are determined to promote and nurture entrepreneurial culture in Pakistan,” said Durdana Achakzai, Chief Digital Officer at Telenor Pakistan. “Through the Velocity Partnership Program, we aim to have an even bigger impact by giving startups access to our ever-growing 43 million plus customer base, state-of-the-art data analytics, APIs, payment integrations, expert mentoring , and outreach to investors.”
Partner incubators and accelerators’ best startups with a ready Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and traction have the chance to benefit from Telenor Velocity’s accelerator program. Application approval is on a rolling basis with startups gaining access to the Velocity Suite virtually from the convenience of their co-working spaces (partner premises). The program charges no fee or equity from the partners or their startups.
Some of the features and tools that partner startups have access to include, access to Telenor’s over 43 Million Customers, state of the art data analytics & SMS campaigns, online payments integration, advertisement on Telenor Pakistan’s digital channels, app placement on Telenor Shelf – Google Play, Telenor Pakistan APIs (SMS, location, DCB, OTP, etc.), Telenor Bank APIs (Mobile Account, Payments & Disbursements), discounted access to the Managed IOT Cloud Platform and mentorship from industry leaders & Telenor Pakistan experts.
In a small span of time, Velocity has helped multiple startups reach out to millions of potential customers, connect with multiple industry experts & mentors, and helped startups raise funds of more than USD 2.2 Million. The Velocity Partnership Program will result in helping partners attract and retain the best of their startups while opening doors to future collaboration between telecom industry and the innovation ecosystem. It is noteworthy that the recent partnership between Ant Financial and Telenor Bank will also create immense opportunities for enablement in the fintech space. This goes to show that Telenor is taking bold and concrete steps in the tech space.