The National Incubation Center, Held Yet Another Promising Summit As Part Of Its National Investor Summit Series – The NIS.
The National Incubation Center, held yet another promising summit as part of its National Investor Summit series-the NIS, aiming to bridge the gap between investors and startups and open doors of opportunities for both alike. The fifth summit was held on the 7th of July 2021 as a virtual event and witnessed participation from local and international investors.
The NIC started the National Investor Summit in January 2020 with NIS 1.0, followed by NIS 2.0 in July, NIS 3.0 in October, and NIS 4.0 in Feb 2021. NIS 1.0 and 2.0 witnessed participation from startups across all NICs in the country. However, the NIC, in line with its vision to spearhead the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country, moved beyond the NIC boundaries to open the summit for non-NIC startups in NIS 3.0 and 4.0, and continued with the legacy in NIS 5.0.
A total of 12 startups were shortlisted to take part in the summit, out of which 8 were NIC startups and 4 were non-NIC. The summit was conducted virtually, which allowed diverse participation from local and international startups as well as investors.
NIS 5.0 was the largest summit held by the NIC till date and was attended by 70+ investors from local and international VC funds, as well as angel investors from the local and diaspora community. Startups pitched their ideas for 16 million ASK investment opportunity; 100% of the startups were locked in office hours with at least one investor. A total of 42 Booking for 30 mins each = 1260 minutes were committed as office hours, held on 8th and 9th July 2021.
The entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan is picking pace and structuring the investment landscape at this stage is critical to accelerate growth. The NIC, realizing this as the need of the hour, initiated the Investor Series to bring investors, regulators, ESOs and other stakeholders onto a common platform to identify bottlenecks that act as impediment to the growth of the ecosystem, and to create visibility between investors and startups. The NIC has, till date, conducted two rounds of the National Investor Roundtable (download the whitepapers for IRT 1.0 & 2.0 ), and five Investor Summits with an aim to create a conducive environment for investors and startups and connect them to better opportunities.