WISE Lab has announced its Micro-Entrepreneurship Program, a new initiative for women who are turning their skills, creativity and determination into businesses across Pakistan. The announcement carries the line Har Hunar Mein Hai Ek Nayi Uraan, which captures the idea behind the programme that every skill holds potential and every woman deserves the opportunity to take it further. The programme is funded by Ignite National Technology Fund under the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, and it is designed to help women build their businesses, unlock growth opportunities and turn their skills into sustainable enterprises. Applications are now open, and interested women can apply through the online application link.
The programme arrives at a time when women remain far behind men in business ownership in Pakistan. Only around one percent of women are engaged in entrepreneurship compared with about 21 percent of men, and just a quarter of women take part in the labour force, which means that a large share of women’s economic potential is still untapped. Many women who do run businesses work from home or on a very small scale, often without access to training, formal finance, digital tools or reliable routes to customers. The Micro-Entrepreneurship Program is aimed at this group, and it focuses on women who run micro, small or home-based businesses and are ready to grow through practical training, mentorship and market access.
WISE Lab is a national platform for women-led ventures that has been set up with funding from Ignite National Technology Fund. It is delivered by a consortium led by Jazz, with Mobilink Bank as co-lead and Change Mechanics responsible for programme design and day to day implementation. Mobilink Bank brings digital banking and financial inclusion into the programme, which is a gap that many incubation efforts have left open, while Change Mechanics, which also operates National Incubation Center Islamabad and National Incubation Center Faisalabad, runs the lab from the Allama Iqbal Open University campus in Islamabad. Alongside its incubation track for women-led startups, the lab plans a nationwide micro-entrepreneur track with bootcamps in every province as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, aiming to reach up to 200 women micro-entrepreneurs each year who might otherwise never visit the capital.
The organisers have described the launch as the start of a new journey and have asked women to stay tuned for further announcements on programme details. For women who have been running a stitching business from home, selling handmade products online, or growing a small food or beauty venture, the programme offers a structured route to move from survival to steady growth. Those who are ready to take that step can submit their applications through the application link and wait for further updates from WISE Lab.
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