Standard Chartered Foundation, in partnership with INNOVentures Global and Village Capital, concluded the eighth cohort of the Women in Tech Accelerator for Pakistan, awarding three women-led startups equity-free grant funding totaling PKR 10.5 million at a graduation ceremony in Karachi. Beyond the funding itself, the winners will also receive an additional six months of hands-on support and financial oversight, along with lifelong membership to the Women in Tech Alumni Network, extending the programme’s support well past the formal end of the cohort.
The first prize of Rs 5 million was awarded to EV Square, founded by Aimen Shafique, while the second prize of Rs 3 million went to Blusha App, founded by Minahil Zafar, and the third prize of Rs 2.5 million was awarded to Zvolta, founded by Anusha Shahid. The three winning ventures emerged from a programme that began with 30 founders undergoing an intensive six-day bootcamp, before narrowing down to 10 women entrepreneurs who received three months of tailored investment-readiness support, expert mentorship, and guidance on sharpening their business models, competitive advantage, scalability and funding strategies, followed by a two-stage funding process for the cohort’s highest-potential startups.
British Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi Alison Blackburne said Pakistan’s women entrepreneurs are turning bold ideas into businesses that create jobs and improve lives, adding that the UK is proud to support their ambition and talent, and she congratulated this year’s winners while commending Standard Chartered Foundation and its partners for giving women the funding, skills and networks needed to grow their businesses. Adil Salahuddin, CEO and Head of Coverage at Standard Chartered Pakistan, said the founders had demonstrated tremendous commitment to building solutions with meaningful impact, noting that the accelerator’s combination of mentorship, business advisory support, industry connections and capacity-building opportunities was designed to help entrepreneurs build more resilient business models and accelerate their growth journey.
Founders presented their ventures to a judging panel comprising Ghias Khan, Independent Non-Executive Director at Standard Chartered Pakistan, Saad Amanullah, Board Member at FFC and President of PILAP, Musharaf Hai, former CEO of Unilever Pakistan, and Sara Khurram, CEO of Sehat Kahani. The Women in Tech Accelerator supports women entrepreneurs building innovative, technology-enabled businesses that address market and community needs, offering tailored investment-readiness support, catalytic grant funding and expert mentorship to help them scale sustainably, create jobs and deliver lasting impact. The Pakistan Accelerator is part of Standard Chartered Foundation’s global Women in Tech initiative, which has supported more than 200 women-led startups in Pakistan since its launch and awarded over USD 425,000 in grant funding to date.
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