Got a plan and a product? Pakistan’s Plan X accelerator takes startups to the next level

Tanzila Imran is the co-founder of Startup92, a startup aiming to amplify the startup ecosystem of Pakistan. There’s also a free newsletter.

Plan X is arguably the largest startup accelerator in Pakistan. It was born out of Plan 9, which is the top startup incubator in the country. Plan X launched in September 2014. It has taken in a number of startups, most of which graduated from Plan 9 and have already gained momentum and attracted funding.

Hafsa Shorish is the Plan X program manager. She is not new to the startup world, having previously headed Plan 9’s marketing and PR. “For me it’s the natural step forward. I loved every bit of my stay at Plan 9 and even now I sometimes get that nostalgic feeling every time a new batch of startups comes in. The role here at Plan X is different and challenging in a different way,” Shorish tells Tech in Asia.

But how are the two entities different for the startups in Pakistan’s fledgling startup ecosystem? “The fundamental difference between Plan 9 and Plan X is that the first one is an incubation program where we take idea-level startups and help them build a viable product and business out of it,” Shorish explains. She adds:

Hafsa Shorish from Plan X

Plan X is an accelerator, and startups here already have a product and some customers too. We help them accelerate on that to gain more customers. The push at Plan X is expansion and funding, if it is required, rather than building a solid product. If you don’t have a product and some customers already, Plan X won’t do any good to you. […] Apart from that there is no other criteria. If you can prove those two things we are most likely to let you in.

Plan X – backed by the Punjab IT Board, and headed by Dr. Umar Saif – is different from many other accelerators in that it doesn’t take any equity. During the program, each individual startup is allocated one dedicated startup industry mentor and one business analyst to help them do ground work and give practical advice.

Recently, the Plan X team started collaborating with big companies like Nestle in order to find areas where startups can work with such massive corporations in terms of doing business, offering perks, offering mentorship, or even investing.

These are the startups in the current Plan X batch:

Bookme.pk

Bookme.pk is well known to Tech in Asia readers as the startup that’s looking to be Pakistan’s go-to site for booking cinema, travel and event tickets. Currently it’s operational in three major cities: Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.