Pakistani Startup Wins Top Category Award at GITEX Future Stars 2021 in Dubai

At GITEX Future Stars in Dubai, MyTM, a startup from the National Incubation Center (NIC) in Islamabad, won the Supernova pitching challenge, defeating UK's 'Save my Wardrobe' in the creative economy category. Since 2015, the Lahore-based startup has become the first Pakistani to win the supernova Challenge Final, which takes place every year at GITEX.

The startup, which is financed by the Ministry of IT and Telecom's Ignite National Technology Fund, is Pakistan's first Islamic Fintech, offering retailers and consumers with a one-stop solution to meet the financial needs of the banked, unbanked, and underbanked.

Every year, the Supernova challenge is hosted in collaboration with GITEX Future Stars to give global startups the opportunity to showcase their ideas, gain worldwide attention, and win a large sum of money from a prize pool of USD 100,000.

In the 11-category competition, almost 700 startups competed. Lone 22 startups advanced to the final, with MyTM emerging as the only Pakistani winner.

Instacare, a health-tech initiative from Pakistan, has also competed in the Supernova challenge. This year, Ignite supported five startups from several NICs, including MyTM (fintech), Instacare (health-tech), GulTechnology (cleantech), Kalpay (fintech), and Edraak (fintech) (automation).

Syed Amin Ul Haque, the Federal Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications, congratulated the winning team and stated, "All my support is with Pakistani startups, and we are devoted to introducing them to the world to promote Pakistan globally."

CEO Ignite, Asim Shahryar Husain, commended MyTM on the significant achievement. "2021 has been a fantastic year for Pakistani startups, with a more than fourfold increase in startup financing over the previous year," he stated. This year, Gitex Future Stars attracted more than 20 Pakistani entrepreneurs, demonstrating the country's entrepreneurial potential. MyTM's triumph in the GITEX pitching competition is something we're quite proud of." He praised Ignite and NIC, Islamabad, for their efforts in nurturing the company and assisting it in competing by offering mentors, incubation services, as well as travel and logistics support.