021Disrupt, an international conference on entrepreneurship and innovation, organized by Nest I/O, was held on the 10th and 11th of November, 2018. ‘021Disrupt’ aimed to connect the world’s leading investors and innovators with the startup community of Pakistan.
Startup Rapid Fire at #021Disrupt18
Posted by The Nest I/O on Saturday, November 10, 2018
Founders introducing the audience to their startups
The conference upheld its legacy of successfully filtering investments into Pakistani startups; this year, GOBI Partners, an investment fund focusing on early stage, IT, and digital media companies, announced their investment in Sasta Ticket, a startup from Pakistan.
New Releases and Exciting Announcements
Major announcements by different companies and marketing giants were the highlights of the event. Lamsa, a children’s edutainment app company with over 12 million downloads, announced that it will be launching an Urdu version of the app for the Pakistani audience.
Coca-Cola, the world’s leading beverage company and a marketing giant, also had an announcement about the ‘The Dasani Discovery Challenge’, which invites disruptive entrepreneurs to counter the issues of plastic waste management using innovative solutions.
Setting the Benchmark
Last year, the first edition of 021Disrupt attracted not only international speakers but also resulted in investments for local startups. These included ModulusTech, SmartChoice, and Dreamnode.
“We are so proud of the brand and global network that we have created around 021Disrupt”
– Jehan Ara, President P@SHA and Founder of The Nest I/O.
Many leading venture capitals from Pakistan and around the world were a part of 021Disrupt’18, including Lumia Capital, Middle East Venture Partners, Alter Global, Fatima Ventures, Valhalla Capital, Wamda Capital, GOBI VC, Sarmayacar, Lakson Investments Venture Capital, and many more, with a collective target fund size of more than a USD 1 Billion.
The turnout at the event was extraordinary. Over 600 thought leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, professionals, influencers, and students attended the conference, making it a huge success.
300 startups from all across Pakistan attended the event. 50% of these secured office hour slots with mentors from all over the world, including Germany, USA, UK, Japan, Malaysia, UAE, etc.
