Telenor Velocity invites tech startups for its 8th Cohort

Guiding young leaders on their path to success, Telenor Pakistan’s Digital Accelerator Program, Telenor Velocity, has opened its doors to applications from startups for its 8th Cohort. Startups in the Velocity program are offered business development support and mentorship via Telenor Pakistan’s experts, analytics, and exclusive access to scaling opportunities.

Telenor Velocity’s 8th Cohort invites applications from startups that specialize in agritech, edtech fintech, m-health, Internet of Things (IOT), media and entertainment, and more. Startups that have been in the market for more than two years will be selected and offered scaling opportunities leveraging Telenor Pakistan’s digital assets and expertise. The 5 startups finalized to be a part of Velocity’s 8^th Cohort will be supported to reach their target audience and will also enjoy special access to Telenor Pakistan’s APIs, data analytics and insights, and support in public outreach and marketing. There have been some successful pilots with startups like Deaftawk, Oladoc, Sehat Kahani, Digikhata and many more where they were not only provided the scale and access to new markets but earned incremental revenue with Telenor Pakistan.

Commenting on the development, Areej Khan, Vice President Digital at Telenor Pakistan said, “The nation’s young leaders are the key to successfully achieve the Digital Pakistan ambition. With mentorship and guidance from experts with decades of experience, we aim at equipping Telenor Velocity’s startups with the necessary tools to give form to their unique ideas. Pakistan’s young minds possess talent and creativity in abundance; and Velocity amplifies those skills while amplifying innovative opportunities through technology.”

Telenor Velocity has equipped startups from different industry verticals with the tools necessary to thrive, create employment, and contribute to the economy. Some success stories from previous years include Pak Agri Market, scaled in more than 120 tehsils in Punjab since 2019; OlaDoc, a mobile medical health service being used by 10 million MyTelenor App customers; Sehat Kahani’s improved data analysis and marketing resulted in an additional outreach of 6 million customers; Digi Khata extended their services to more than 200,000 retailers across the nation, via the Apollo app; and finally, Deaftawk, a sign language interpretation app, catering to 466 million deaf people globally, was featured in Telenor Pakistan’s TV commercial.

Launched in 2016, Telenor Velocity is Telenor Pakistan’s Digital Startup Accelerator, fostering an environment of innovation and collaboration, enabling the nation’s tech-startups to co-create new digital products and services. So far, Telenor Velocity has conducted 7 cohorts, with 40 graduated start-ups, 4+ pilot runs, $40,000 pilot investment, and $5 million investment raised by Telenor Velocity start-ups. To apply for Telenor Velocity’s 8^th Cohort, please fill out the application form. The last date to apply is 20^th February 2022.