Pasha Fund has declared four winners for the first round of its sponsorship under its social innovation program.

The winners and their proposed projects names are:

• Alif Laila for Sabah Rehman,
• Farhan Masood for Bloodline,
• Waqas Ali for Online Store for Handmade
• Shoesand Usman Siddique for “Audible” for Urdu – Urdu Online.

It also announced the shortlisted candidates who will be provided grants in the next rounds.

The proposed projects are Beopar, Pakistan Student Loans, Qeemat, Integrated People, Innovative BioGas Generator, Mobile Ustaad, and Pak Donor.

The winners have been asked to hold consultation with local assigned mentors and chalk out ten step plan to be carried out in next six months as per set goals and milestones.

Afterwards, they will receive their first check for US$2,000 equivalent. They will be asked to define goal for the next four deliverables and get US$2,000 for each round.

The total funding allocation for each project is US$10,000 however the mentor must sign off on progress and milestones to get payment released in 5 phases in total.

P@SHA Social Innovation Fund was launched in April 2011. There are more than 64 applications shortlisted out of more than 300 proposals submitted.

The judges unanimously picked four winners and seven shortlisted candidates for the next round of funding.

Pasha Fund will arrange technical sessions for the winners and shortlisted candidates who will start planning for the next round of applications in consultation with their respective mentors.

The purpose of the social innovation fund is primarily to aid talented young people having innovative ideas for identifying and driving solutions of social and community challenges.

The idea is not to fund the creation of software but to fund ideas that use Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a platform for delivery and as a means for empowerment.

The initial seed money for this Fund has been provided to P@SHA by Google Inc in the form of a grant. As the Fund proves its worth, there is a likelihood of more organizations adding to it.