The National Incubation Center Karachi marked a major milestone as 30 startups from its 12th Cohort graduated during the centre’s first anniversary celebration, attended by Federal Minister for IT & Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Ignite CEO Rafique Ahmed Buriro and Asim Ishaq Khan, Vice President LMKT, alongside investors and ecosystem stakeholders.
Speaking at the event, the Federal Minister said the graduation underlines Pakistan’s growing pool of entrepreneurial talent and the government’s commitment to the Prime Minister’s Digital Nation Vision. She noted that these startups are creating jobs, reshaping industries and positioning Pakistan on the global technology map, and reaffirmed continued support to nurture a knowledge-based digital economy.
Rafique Ahmed Buriro highlighted Ignite’s role in spreading incubation and mentorship across the country and said NIC Karachi demonstrates the power of public-private collaboration to build globally relevant solutions. Asim Ishaq Khan described the consortium’s progress with partners YBG and Orbit Startups and said NIC Karachi is building a robust pipeline of scalable businesses that can compete internationally.
The 30 graduating teams from 
Cohort 12 are now poised to scale their solutions across local and international markets, with alumni success stories cited as examples of how NIC Karachi support translates into job creation, revenue growth and sectoral disruption. The centre provides free-of-cost incubation, mentorship, investor access, legal and financial advisory, and specialised labs to accelerate commercialisation.
Since inception, NIC Karachi has supported over 375 startups, contributed to the creation of more than one million jobs, generated over PKR 10 billion in revenue and attracted upwards of PKR 12 billion in investment. With continued backing from Ignite and consortium partners, NIC Karachi aims to deepen its impact on Pakistan’s startup ecosystem and sustain momentum for scaling innovation.
