261 startups ‘graduate’ under expansion plan

Objective of plan was to democratise entrepreneurship, boost business activity across country, says PITB chairman

LAHORE:

A total of 261 startups graduated under the National Expansion Plan (NEP) of the National Incubation Centres (NICs) Programme, a collaborative effort of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) and the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), during 2023.

The participants of a meeting presided over by PITB Chairman Faisal Yousaf were informed that 87 of the successful startups from Punjab, 64 from Sindh, 39 from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 31 from Balochistan and 20 each from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan.

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The PITB chairman said the objective of the plan was to democratise entrepreneurship, boost business activity across the country, grow the IT industry and promote economic growth. “The incubation programme is tailored to the needs of early stage startups and runs on a zero-equity model,” he added.

In partnership with public sector universities, 13 tech incubation centres have been set up across the country, where startups are provided free of charge workspace, mentorship, networking opportunities and stipend.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2024.