Applications for the 13th edition of the Tameer Awards 2026 are now open, giving founders across Pakistan an opportunity to gain national recognition for their startups. The awards are hosted by Wafi Energy Pakistan, a Shell licensee, and are being positioned as one of the country’s most anticipated annual innovation award programmes, open to startups with high growth potential as well as those with a working prototype ready for the next stage of scaling.
The Tameer Awards have supported more than 1,200 startups over the past two decades, according to the organisers, positioning the programme as a long running fixture within Pakistan’s entrepreneurship support ecosystem rather than a newly established initiative. Organisers described this year’s edition as a continuation of that mandate, aimed at helping identify and support the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators building ventures across the country, with founders invited to apply directly through the official application link shared alongside the announcement.
The announcement was accompanied by an appeal to partners across industry, academia, incubators and accelerators to help share the opportunity within their own networks, reflecting the programme’s reliance on Pakistan’s broader startup support infrastructure to reach eligible founders. A wide range of institutions were named in connection with the announcement, including National Incubation Centers in Karachi, Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Lahore, along with Ignite National Technology Fund, NICAT, Bahria University, Iqra University, IBA’s Center for Entrepreneurial Development, Startup Syndicate, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute, GIKI Incubation Center Islamabad, NUST and its College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Pak Austria Fachhochschule, COMSATS University Islamabad and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan.
The breadth of institutions associated with the announcement points to the scale of Pakistan’s incubation and academic network that the Tameer Awards draw on each year to identify eligible founders, spanning technology focused incubators, business schools and engineering universities across multiple cities. Organisers framed the awards as a chance to bring visibility to founders who might otherwise operate outside the more established venture capital and investor circuits, with participation open to startups at different stages of development rather than being limited to a single sector or funding stage.
Founders interested in applying to the 13th Tameer Awards 2026 can submit their applications through the official link. Apply: https://lnkd.in/dyt2seyE
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