Entrepreneurs recognised at award ceremony

Shell Tameer holds seventh edition of event, four winners rewarded.

KARACHI: Set against the arcane background of the Mohatta Palace, Shell Tameer conducted its seventh awards ceremony on Monday.

With focus on promoting young entrepreneurs in the country, four winners were rewarded for the innovation and sustainability in their business start-ups.

Sindhri House, one of the 12 finalists at the competition, provides customised stitching services and is managed by three women from the Balochabad village of Mirpurkhas.

The event not only focused on empowering rural women but also highlighted potential of the country’s youth. Wajiha Tariq, who started the venture called Kaghaz kay Karnamay, said the programme helped her execute her idea of using degradable material to set up a paper-making studio.

Baqar Abbas Jafri of Capital Valley– a social network for crowd funding – said the youth felt the absence of mentoring.

The competition

The 12 entrepreneurs shortlisted for the final awards were judged on various criteria including start-up viability, business strategy, innovation and focus on social enterprise.

Shell Pakistan Limited External Affairs Manager Seemi Saad said the competition captured the essence of ingenuity in the country. “What comes out clearly is that Pakistan holds a lot of potential and we only need to streamline processes,” said Saad.

The first Adamjee Insurance Ingenuity Award was won by Sanwal Muneer of Capture Mobility, a venture that developed a hybrid renewable energy product for harvesting both solar and wind energy. The Express Tribune Environment Award was given to Yasir Hasan for Smart Surgical, an initiative that offers local surgeons training solutions to improve their skills.

The third award for EFU Life Changing category was presented to Humeria Bachal from Dream Foundation, which is centred on providing easy access to education. The fourth award, called the Tameer Microfinance Bank Opportunity award, was given to Fatima Tendai from Tendai Lamps, a business that focuses on selling solar lights as a solution for load-shedding.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2014.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.