The program began in March 2019, when 18 startups were shortlisted from a pool of 80 applications from across Pakistan. The selected startups received training, mentorship, and guidance for 2 months. The final pitching took place on August 2, where the top 5 startups were selected as winners of the program.
These startups will receive further support, external mentorship, and milestone-based disbursement of the winnings over a period of 9 months.
The 5 winning startups include Relive Now, Closet, Dot-mind unlocked, Plate 101, and Trashit. Both Closet and Relive Now are The Nest I/O Alumni, while Trashit was founded at Startup Weekend Karachi 2017, organized by The Nest I/O.
Jehan Ara President P@SHA and Founder The Nest I/O remarked:
I’m extremely proud of all the winners, especially The Nest I/O alumni, who continue to remind us time and again how talented our local entrepreneurs are and there is nothing they cannot achieve with a little support from us and programs like SC Women in Tech Pakistan. I wish the winners all the luck in their entrepreneurial journey.
Relive Now is an online platform that provides a mobile connection between psychologists and people looking for counseling and therapy.
The startup has won a number of awards since its inception, including the Techcamp Grant 2018 worth USD 5,000, UNICEF GenUnlimited Challenge, and Westerwelle Foundation Young Founders Programme (Spring 2019).
Closet, on the other hand, provides lending and rental services for all kinds of clothes, including wedding dresses. Where an average bridal dress costs anywhere between 100k-300k, a wedding dress rented from Closet costs as low as PKR 9,000.
At the time of graduation from The Nest I/O in Dec 2018, the startup had already processed over 150 orders and generated revenue of PKR 153,000. Their network of lenders and renters is increasing by the day with more people realizing the practicality of the concept.
