It’s a wrap! After months of hard work and dedication, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s first-ever investor summit has successfully come to an end. Funded by World Bank, the KPIS’21 was an initiative of NIC Peshawar that allowed the startups of the KP to pitch before a pool of potential investors, partners, ecosystem leaders and prospective customers. The KPIS’21 was one of its kind in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has effectively become the talk of the town.

On the 12th of November 2021, 64 globally renowned investors and experts participated at the KPIS’21 to evaluate 12 startups that pitched before the esteemed audience. The event kicked off with an opening note on what sets startups of KP apart and a detailed overview of the KP ecosystem by Asim Ishaq (Director, NIC). Atif Rais Khan (CEO, LMKT/LMKR) also shared his two cents on the role of LMK Group’s opportunity development in the emerging ecosystem of KP. The opening then led to nail-biting and cutthroat pitching sessions amongst the startups. After witnessing 12 thrilling pitches, Ignite decided to award 3 startups a total of PKR 1.2 Million that presented at the investor summit. Position wise, the following were the winners of KPIS’21:

  1. uSteth was awarded a Cash Reward of PKR 500,000 by Ignite. uSteth is a smart digital stethoscope complemented by a software application that can visualize, store and share cardio-pulmonary sounds for predictive diagnosis.
  2. BizB was awarded a Cash Reward of PKR 400,000 by Ignite at KPIS. BizB is an online marketplace for buying and selling preloved dresses in order to enable people to earn and save money while promoting sustainable fashion.
  3. Altimate Outdoors was awarded a Cash Reward of PKR 300,000 by Ignite at KPIS. Altimate Outdoors is an online store that designs, manufactures and sells affordable athleisure gears for extreme outdoor activities.

Sustainable Energy & Economic Development (SEED) Programme awarded PKR 1 million worth of Technical Assistance to BizB and Khpal Bazaar each for winning the Startup Pitching League 2021 held at NIC Peshawar on 7th Oct 2021. A cash reward of PKR 50,000 was awarded to the winners of the EdHack challenge funded by the US Mission in Pakistan. The EdHack challenge was a week-long hackathon held at NIC Peshawar during the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2021.The KPIS’21 also allowed startups and other participants to network with key ecosystem members to discuss future collaborations and partnerships. During the networking, startups received firsthand feedback and notes on the appropriate way forward from the experts directly.

The KPIS’21 kicked off the three-day-long Digital Youth Summit’21, an annual event that international and national ecosystem leaders look forward to. With over 8,000 footfall, 28,000+ online attendance and a total of 38,500 participants, it is safe to say that the KPIS’21 and DYS’21 were a huge success.

On behalf of its partners, the World Bank and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board, the NIC Peshawar Team extends its sincerest gratitude to all the Panelists, Speakers and Participants for the KP Investor Summit and looks forward to building synergies for making Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the next Tech Innovation and Entrepreneurship destination.