MyTM, a startup of the National Incubation Center (NIC), Islamabad has won the Supernova pitching challenge, beating UK’s ‘Save my Wardrobe’ in the creative economy category at GITEX Future Stars held in Dubai. The Lahore-based startup has become the first Pakistani startup to win the supernova Challenge Final held every year at GITEX since 2015
The startup, funded by Ignite National Technology Fund, Ministry of IT and Telecom, is the first Islamic Fintech in Pakistan that empowers retailers and consumers by simultaneously providing them a one-stop solution to cater to the financial needs of the banked, unbanked, and under-banked.
The Supernova challenge is held every year in partnership with GITEX Future Stars to give global startups a chance to grandstand their ideas, grab the world’s attention and win a bulk of cash from the prize pool of USD 100,000.
More than 700 startups took part in the competition of 11 categories. Only 22 startups made it to the final with MyTM being the only Pakistani startup to win.
Another Pakistani startup, Instacare, a health-tech initiative had also participated in the Supernova challenge. Ignite provided travel and logistics support to five startups from different NICs this year including MyTM (fintech), Instacare (health-tech), GulTechnology (cleantech), Kalpay (fintech), and Edraak (automation).
In his remarks on the win, Federal Minister of IT & Telecom, Syed Amin Ul Haque, congratulated the winning team and said, “All my support is with startups of Pakistan and we are committed to promoting them to the world to brand Pakistan globally.”
Asim Shahryar Husain, CEO Ignite, congratulated MyTM on the big achievement. He said, “2021 has been a remarkable year for Pakistani startups with a growth of more than 4 times in startup investments over last year. More than 20 Pakistani startups participated in Gitex Future Stars this year which reflects the entrepreneurial potential of Pakistan. We are proud of MyTM’s victory at GITEX’s pitching competition.” He said the efforts made by Ignite and NIC, Islamabad, were appreciatable as they nurtured the startup and helped it compete by providing it access to mentors and incubation services alongside travel and logistics support.
