DeafTawk Bags Award At Pakistan Startup Cup 2018-19

Setting an example as the first Pakistani social entrepreneurs, Deaftawk, incubated at the National Incubation Center Islamabad, Pakistan is all set to take on the world with another victorious win at the Pakistan Startup Cup 2018-19.

The National Incubation Center (NIC) lauds its 3rd Cohort’s rising star DeafTawk efforts for winning the 2nd prize at Pakistan StartUp Cup Challenge, competing against 680 teams over the course of 6 months, in Islamabad.

Pakistan Startup Cup challenge is one of the biggest business model competitions held under the auspices of TiE Islamabad in collaboration with U.S. embassy that rewards startups for turning their ideas into a viable business, going to market quickly, testing assumptions, and modifying their business model gradually.

Grand Finale of the event was attended by H.E Paul W. Jones; Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Shafqat Mehmood; Minister of Federal Education and Professional Training among others.

Founded in June 2018, DeafTawk is a digital platform that provides real-time sign language interpretation service to bridge the communication gap for the deaf community. It’s the brainchild of Ali Shabbar, Wamiq Hassan and Abdul Qadeer who left their jobs to pursue entrepreneurship for social change.

“It’s a humbling moment to receive this prize. I’m sure this will further help us achieve the ambitious goals of social entrepreneurship we set when we started,” said Ali Shabbar, co-founder of the startup.

Digitally Empowering The Deaf Community

Ensuring that no one in the society is left behind, the DeafTawk team is committed to engaging the deaf community with the right opportunities to learn, to be educated and become a part of the larger workforce. The team is trying to bridge the communications gap between the deaf and the general community through an online portal. The team is also set to launch its mobile app soon.

A Moment of Glory: DeafTawk First Pakistani Start-Up Receives Best Inclusive & Excellence Award at Youth Co:Lab in Vietman

Earlier this year, DeafTawk competed against 40 teams from across Asia Pacific and won excellence award at Youth Co:Lab summit in Vietnam. It is also the recipient of IATC Impact Award in Social Enterprise by Engro Foundation. Recently it’s been shortlisted among top 10 startups by Global Market Access Program (GMAP) which takes them to Austin for a 4-week Business Development Program.

Youth Co: Lab, the project co-led by UNDP and Citi Foundation, is the largest youth-led social entrepreneurship movement driving the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The startup is also selected to visit Slush; one the largest startup events in the world.

We at the NIC are extremely happy to see this startup grow in such a short span. As they say, hard work does pay off!

These social entrepreneurs made it big with their passion for building and empowering the communities not only within Pakistan but also impacting communities in the Asia Pacific region.

Months of Mentorship and Tireless Pitching at the NIC

From countless pitches and hours of mentorship to pitching to the investors, these social entrepreneurs have made it big, securing significant investment from Asia Accelerator, Singapore Investment Forum at the same time have managed to raise grant from GuarantCo. After all hard work does pay off!

Currently part of Asia Accelerator, the team now is based in Singapore, creating a larger impact in the Asian market by digitally empowering the deaf community through their digital sign interpreters. Kudos to these entrepreneurs for making their mark into the international market!