Episode eight of Perfect Pitch, titled Building Safer, Smarter and More Sustainable Futures, brought five Pakistani startups before a jury of leading technology and investment figures, with Arm Rehab Technologies taking home the PKR 1 million prize. The show, an initiative of the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, HEC and Hum TV Network, was hosted by Ahfar Rehman and judged by Asim Ghaffar, Vice President of Engineering at Temenos and Board Member of TiE Islamabad, Jehan Ara, recipient of the Tamgha e Imtiaz and Founder and CEO of Catalyst Labs, and Faisal Aftab, Founder and CEO of Zayn VC and a Shark from Shark Tank Pakistan. Before the pitches began, the jury offered a quick tip to founders: state the problem clearly, explain the impact of the solution, and highlight the unfair advantage that sets the venture apart. The full episode is available on YouTube.
The first pitch came from Ali Gul of Gul Technology, a Balochistan based hardware startup developing an IoT smart helmet lamp for coal miners that detects toxic and explosive gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide, along with temperature and humidity, and shows readings on a real time display with alarms. The startup has generated PKR 3 million in three to four months, prices its unit at PKR 60,000 against imported equivalents costing between PKR 200,000 and 500,000, and has a utility patent pending with IPO Pakistan. STEMverse followed, with Mashaal Jawad and Quratulain presenting an EdTech platform that uses AR, VR and gamified learning to make STEM subjects such as robotics, AI and 3D modeling accessible to K-12 students. The company sells curriculum packages to schools and a consumer app priced at 3 dollars a month, has worked with more than 25 organizations, and is scaling from physical workshops toward a fully digital application.
The third pitch came from Arm Rehab Technologies, led by Mohammad Hamza Shafique and Tahir Yaseen, a biomedical startup producing affordable, 3D printed robotic prosthetic hands made locally in Pakistan for amputees. The team has installed more than 30 robotic hands, offers a five year full warranty, and limits imported components such as motors and circuit boards to around 10 percent of costs, while cutting the price of its muscle sensors from 50 dollars to 5 dollars by building them in house. EcoS then presented its circular economy model through Roshaan Zahid and Uzair ul Haq, turning waste paper into plantable pens and pencils fitted with embedded seed capsules. The company has sold 30,000 units for PKR 1.8 million in revenue at 25 percent margins and runs a factory in Faisalabad capable of producing 3,000 to 4,000 units daily. The final pitch came from Dr. Yahya Nawaz of MatchVet, a digital pet care marketplace that connects pet owners with verified veterinarians based on location, budget and specific needs for home visits, clinic appointments or online consultations. Its bidding and commission based model has onboarded more than 50 vets across Lahore and Islamabad, and the team is collaborating with animal shelters on adoption drives.
The episode also featured a success story on Zip Technologies, the EV startup founded by Laeeq Chotani that operates battery swapping infrastructure and electric two wheelers in Pakistan, along with an audience giveaway asking viewers to explain the term ROI, or return on investment. In the grand finale, Project Director Abdullah Soomro joined the jury with the PKR 1 million cheque and announced Gul Technology, led by Ali Gul, as runner-up, before naming Arm Rehab Technologies, led by Mohammad Hamza Shafique and Tahir Yaseen, as the winner of the episode. The result reflects the show’s focus this week on ventures building practical, locally made technology for safety, health and sustainability, with the jury backing a low cost prosthetics company that is already fitting robotic hands for amputees across Pakistan.
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