The Elevate Entrepreneurship program has taken its second cohort to the Bahria Business Incubation Center, extending the initiative beyond its usual setting and into a space where startups are actively being built. The session brought participants together with the startups based at the center and with the people who help shape it, giving aspiring entrepreneurs a chance to see how early stage companies operate and what support they rely on. TiE Islamabad, which runs the program, described the visit around a simple idea: good ideas need more than a spark, and they need the right guidance, exposure, and connections to grow.
Hosting the session were Prof. Dr. Raja Mazhar Hameed and Warda Qasim, whom the organizers thanked for opening the center to the cohort. Mentors from S&P Global also took part, sharing their insights with participants and drawing on their professional experience to help the group think through the challenges of building a business. Sonia Javed coordinated the session. The combination of a working incubation center, experienced mentors, and a cohort of aspiring founders created a setting in which participants could ask questions directly, compare their own plans with those of startups already in the market, and take away practical lessons they can apply to their own ventures.
Moving the cohort into an incubation center adds a dimension that classroom learning cannot easily provide. Participants were able to engage with startups at different stages, hear how founders have approached early decisions, and understand how a structured incubation environment supports the growth of a young company. For many aspiring entrepreneurs, the gap between having an idea and building a business is wide, and exposure to real teams and real workspaces helps close it. Conversations with mentors from a global company such as S&P Global also give participants an outside view of how large organizations think about markets, discipline, and long term planning, perspectives that early stage founders often lack.
The visit reflects the broader purpose of the Elevate Entrepreneurship program, which TiE Islamabad says is meant to create more opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to learn, connect, and take their ideas forward. By taking the second cohort to the Bahria Business Incubation Center, the program widened the circle of people and places that participants can draw upon, linking them to a university based incubation environment and to the startup community around it. For the center, the session offered a chance to engage with a new group of emerging founders and to exchange ideas with mentors and organizers. As the cohort continues, such exchanges are likely to help participants move from concept to execution with a clearer sense of the guidance, exposure, and connections that growth demands.
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