ORIC at SZABIST University conducted a Seed Money Cheque Distribution Ceremony and Commercialization Session, where winning teams received their seed money cheques and certificates from Dean of the Faculty of Computer and Engineering Sciences, Dr Faraz Junejo. The ceremony marked the formal recognition of student teams whose projects had been selected for seed funding, giving them both financial support and public acknowledgment of their work.
Beyond the cheque distribution itself, the session included an interactive component focused on transforming innovative projects into market ready ventures, giving winning teams practical guidance on the steps required to move from an academic or early stage project toward something that could function as a viable business. This kind of commercialisation focused programming reflects a broader effort within university incubation offices to ensure that seed funding is paired with the practical knowledge needed to make effective use of it, rather than treating the funding itself as the endpoint of the process.
The session also introduced participants to the incubation opportunities offered by ZEN Business Incubation Centre, giving winning teams a clear next step to pursue as they look to build on the momentum created by receiving seed funding. Connecting seed money recipients directly to an incubation centre in the same session reflects a structured pathway design, where funding, practical commercialisation guidance and continued institutional support are presented together rather than as separate, disconnected opportunities.
ORIC’s role in organising this ceremony reflects the office’s broader mandate within SZABIST to support research, innovation and commercialisation activities emerging from within the university, extending its work beyond administrative research support into direct funding and entrepreneurial development for student teams. The involvement of the Dean of the Faculty of Computer and Engineering Sciences in personally distributing the cheques signals institutional backing at a senior academic level for the seed funding initiative.
The ceremony adds to a pattern seen across Pakistani universities of pairing seed funding programmes with structured commercialisation support and incubation pathways, aimed at improving the odds that funded student projects go on to develop into genuine ventures rather than remaining confined to academic exercises. Further information about ORIC’s programmes is available through the university’s official channels. More information: https://lnkd.in/dF3fRi4c
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