From the first application to the final pitch, 45 founders have reached this moment, as the final judging round of WISE Lab Cohort 1 officially wrapped this week. The milestone closes out a selection process that began with a far larger applicant pool and narrowed, stage by stage, down to the group of women founders who made it all the way to the final pitch, each carrying weeks of preparation and refinement into their moment in front of the panel.
The 45 women founders took the stage to pitch ventures spanning Deep Tech, Generative AI, Gaming, Sustainability, Climate Tech, AgriTech, HealthTech and E-commerce, reflecting the breadth of problems women entrepreneurs in Pakistan are currently choosing to tackle. The range of sectors represented in a single cohort underscores that women led innovation in the country is not concentrated in any one niche, but is instead spreading across some of the most technically demanding and commercially significant categories in the broader startup landscape.
Each pitch represented weeks of preparation and refinement, building on earlier sessions such as the cohort’s dedicated Pitch Deck Training, as founders worked to sharpen how they communicated their ventures ahead of this final, high stakes presentation. The founders were reviewed by 15 global industry experts and entrepreneurs, who brought experience from different sectors and markets to the final round, giving each pitch a level of scrutiny informed by perspectives well beyond Pakistan’s own startup ecosystem.
WISE Lab thanked every founder who stepped up and presented her venture, as well as the judges for their time, insight and thoughtful evaluation throughout the final round. With the pitches now complete, attention turns to the results of WISE Lab Cohort 1, which organizers say are coming next. The programme continues to be supported by the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication Pakistan, Ignite National Technology Fund, JazzWorld, Mobilink Bank and Change Mechanics.
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