KSBL Entrepreneurship Society held its inaugural ELXR 26 hackathon, challenging students to build local alternatives to imported enterprise software, with over 100 applicants and PKR 425,000 in prizes.

IBA CEDIR hosted a session with Fatiq B. Khursheed teaching SAP founders which metrics investors actually evaluate, including MRR, cohort retention, CAC payback and burn multiple

SEDF, with UNIDO under the EU-funded PAIDAR Programme, held an Enterprise Grant Awareness Session in Thatta, bringing together over 100 entrepreneurs and SMEs to learn about grant eligibility and applications.

Elevate kicked off its Entrepreneurship Track with a session on customer development and market research, supported by S&P Global, giving participants an introduction to understanding customers and building with purpose.

NIC Islamabad has opened applications for Cohort 6, inviting founders building startups with the ambition to scale to access mentorship, funding and strategic connections.

CEGA has opened applications for Incubation Cohort 3, inviting founders and creators building in gaming, animation and interactive entertainment to join a six month, fully free incubation programme.

Applications for the 13th Tameer Awards 2026, hosted by Wafi Energy Pakistan, are now open for high potential startups and founders with a prototype ready to scale, offering national recognition to Pakistan's next generation of entrepreneurs.

Courtify, a sports ecosystem platform founded by Zayan Ahmed at NIC Karachi, allows users to book courts, find teammates, connect with coaches and buy or sell sports gear, all through a single platform.

Hungry Boys, a FoodTech startup founded by Maratib Ali Lashari, is making food delivery more accessible for students and underserved communities through a batch-delivery model, now serving over 800 active monthly users.

Tencent Cloud and tapmad partnered to deliver seamless streaming for a global football tournament in Pakistan, supporting over 7 million concurrent viewers with 99 percent uptime through Cloud Streaming Services, CDN, and Media Processing Service.

MedIQ has been awarded the Zone Enterprise License by the Special Technology Zones Authority under the IT, ITeS, and Telemedicine category, allowing it to operate within Pakistan's Special Technology Zones as a licensed technology enterprise.

Nectar Social co-founder Misbah Uraizee says the company's Lahore engineering team is developing core AI technology powering over 10 million brand conversations weekly, positioning Pakistan as one of the startup's biggest engineering investments following its USD 30 million Series A.

Ali Sajjad, Founder of IZAK 10 Corporation and NIC Karachi Cohort 12 alumnus, shares how the incubation ecosystem helped him build a customer contact management platform serving customer service, sales, compliance, and anti-money laundering teams with smarter workflows.

Licious, a startup from IU CORE Cohort 1 at Iqra University, has been selected to participate in WIBCON 2026 Karachi, organised by the Pakistan Society for Training and Development at Pearl Continental Hotel, marking another milestone for the university's entrepreneurship programme.

MENA startups raised $172.6 million across 45 deals in July 2026, according to Wamda, with debt financing accounting for 56 percent of total capital as Saudi Arabia led regional funding.

Pakistani fintech Oraan has raised fresh funding from Epic Angels and returning investors WaveMaker and i2i Ventures to expand its gold savings product and enter new markets.

Pakistani startups raised 59 million dollars in the first half of 2026, with the majority coming from Fasset's 51 million dollar Series B, according to a new round-up from i2i Ventures.

ChipXPRT, a semiconductor chip design startup spun off from NUST SEECS, has secured a PKR 50 million seed investment from Matracon Pakistan Private Limited, with the signing ceremony held at National Science and Technology Park at NUST on July 22, 2026.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has approved Tasdeeq Information Services Limited's IPO, the first of fiscal year 2026-27, allowing the SBP-licensed credit bureau to list 219 million shares on the Pakistan Stock Exchange.

Team TiE conducted a monitoring visit to the Multipurpose Center established at Frontier College Peshawar under D4WEE, expanding digital learning and economic opportunities for women in KP.

Ignite National Technology Fund has signed an MoU with Bilişim Vadisi to strengthen technology ties between Pakistan and Türkiye, covering startups, talent exchange, gaming, AI and innovation.

SEIC has signed an MoU with GEN-Pakistan Flagship Programs to support startups and build a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sindh.

funl has partnered with Replit Community to host Builder's Edition, inviting founders who have built working products with AI tools to demo on stage at WorkMore 3.0, Karachi, on August 21, 2026.

Pakistan's gaming and animation startups pitched to local and global investors at CEGA's FuturePlay Investor Summit in Karachi, with Sony joining as Creative Tech Partner and applications for Cohort 3 opening September 2026.

NIC Islamabad welcomed a delegation from Youth Parliament Pakistan to explore the country's startup ecosystem, discussing how AI and DeepTech startups are supported through public-funded incubation and youth-driven policy dialogue.

SEDF, with UNIDO under the EU-funded PAIDAR Programme, held an Enterprise Grant Awareness Session in Thatta, bringing together over 100 entrepreneurs and SMEs to learn about grant eligibility and applications.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed officials to prepare a roadmap for a new Private Equity Fund aimed at diversifying financing sources and strengthening Pakistan's capital markets, with a particular focus on SMEs.

SMEDA and SEDF have agreed to strengthen collaboration to improve access to finance for MSMEs across Pakistan, with both organisations outlining plans for financial literacy and SME financing helpdesks.

Federal Minister for Board of Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh met with Sundar Green Special Economic Zone management to discuss investment facilitation, calling export led industrial growth central to Pakistan's economic future.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to prepare a comprehensive roadmap for a Private Equity Fund and the public equity market, calling private sector investment a key pillar of Pakistan's long term economic growth.

SMEDA CEO Nadia Jahangir Seth and SEDF CEO Khizar Pervaiz explored collaboration on financial and digital literacy, SME Financing Helpdesks, business formalisation, and the potential replication of Punjab's Asaan Karobar Scheme in Sindh to build a stronger MSME ecosystem.

Shark Tank Producer Usman on the two-year Sony negotiation, the casting calculus, the off-camera valuation coaching, and the production mechanics that turned a skeptical market into the site of the biggest deal in the franchise's global history.

NICAT, in partnership with DEMO Pakistan (SPIN-IDG), hosted a session on data-driven decision-making, exploring how digitization, analytics, and innovation are shaping Pakistan’s economic and enterprise future.

Industry leaders discuss how fintech, agritech, and edtech are enabling women’s economic empowerment in Pakistan, while startups leverage technology, partnerships, and community engagement to scale solutions.

Discover how Sialkot's world-renowned sports manufacturing industry can evolve into sports-tech innovation, using smart equipment, AI, sensors, and connected technology to shape the future of global sports.

Pakistan Super League offers startups more than sponsorship. Discover how PSL can drive brand awareness, customer acquisition, and long-term growth.

NIC Karachi hosted a session on Saudi Arabia’s PDPL, led by data protection expert Bilal Ghafoor, guiding startups on compliance, risks, and strategies for expanding into the Kingdom.

Paklaunch will host Dr Aamir Farooq of KAUST for a webinar on the KAUST Startup Playbook, covering the TAQADAM Startup Accelerator and deep tech entrepreneurship opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

Human in the AI Loop will host a Build session featuring engineering leaders from Qualcomm, Google DeepMind, Waymo and Xapa discussing what it takes to put AI into production, on August 26, 2026.

Qatar Development Bank has opened applications for its 2026 Pre-Accelerator Program, offering early stage startups up to 75,000 dollars in investment and mentorship over an eight week hybrid programme in Doha.

Ignite National Technology Fund is calling on Pakistani startups working in cybersecurity and related fields to apply for sponsorship to represent Pakistan at GISEC Global 2026 in Dubai.

KamelPay founders Ehsan Rahman, Saadaat Yaqub Bajwa and Zishan Rahman have joined Endeavor Pakistan as its eighth Endeavor Entrepreneur team, as the fintech secures new regulatory licenses in the UAE.

Pathfinder CITADEL and OIC COMSTECH opened Day 1 of the Global South Innovation and Investment Summit 2026, bringing together policymakers, innovators and the visiting CCAC delegation to discuss cross border technology collaboration.

Pakistan’s startup ecosystem in 2025 entered a new phase shaped by selective funding, hybrid financing, debt-backed growth, AI innovation and institutional maturity, as startups adapted to tighter capital markets and evolving investor priorities.

Exactly two years ago, on 24th April 2024, the United Nations Development Programme’s State of Youth Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in Pakistan presented a comprehensive assessment of the country’s youth entrepreneurship landscape.

Circa early 2024, as Pakistan’s startup story was beginning to fray at the edges of what had only recently been framed as a breakout moment, the stepped in with a short but pointed intervention. Published on January 26, 2024, “Monumental Shifts in Pakistan’s Startup Landscape: For the Better or Worse?” was written at a time when the exuberance of 2021–22 had already given way to funding slowdowns, startup shutdowns, and a growing unease around valuations that had once been celebrated.