KARACHI: There were lights, cameras and action. Stage fright–stricken young men walked to the podium and tried to impress “judges” who sat with their backs to the hall packed to capacity. The whole shebang had the look and feel of American Idol.
But the stars of the Friday afternoon weren’t singers. They were young entrepreneurs looking to win up to a quarter of a million dollars for disrupting some part of the business landscape within the agriculture sector.
The three finalists at the Pakistan Agri-preneurship Challenge — organised by SEED Ventures and Maersk Pakistan — had survived earlier screening rounds to earn the privilege of pitching their businesses to the panel of eight investors, including big names like Habib Bank, Invest2Innovate, Deosai Ventures and Sarmayacar.
First on stage was ZamindarTech, a B2B platform that connects agri input manufacturers to retailers. CEO Zubair Ayaz Asim began his presentation by profiling one of the 43 retailers his company is currently serving.
Startups pitch for VC funding at competition held by SEED Ventures, Maersk Pakistan
Based in a second-tier city of Punjab, the retailer sells 500-plus products with a working capital of $2,500. He goes to Lahore to purchase inventory and gets the orders delivered in 30-45 days. Sometimes, he’s handed fake products, thanks to the unscrupulous middleman or deal/distributor. Not only does he often run out of inventory he also loses about a quarter of his working capital because of logistical...
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