JumpStart Pakistan is a movement to change Pakistan through entrepreneurship. It is a greenhouse for organically growing startups. It follows Pakistan’s own entrepreneurial model called Margalla Hills Model which is Pakistan’s version of the Silicon Valley Model. They take in startups and guide them through the entire process of shaping their idea and then pitching successfully in order to get investments.

JumpStart Pakistan is very different from normal incubators since here, initial handholding is considered more helpful than leaving startups to grow themselves. Here, startups are given shepherds, mentors and other guidance means so that they understand what they need to do based on others’ knowledge and experience.

JumpStart Pakistan does not provide any direct funding to startups that join. Instead, they direct those startups towards Shepherds who not only help them grow in terms of refining their idea, but also participate in funding/investment if and when necessary.

Jumpstart Pakistan has a clear policy on taking equity form the startups that join them. They do not take any equity from any startup whatsoever. This is where they differentiate themselves from conventional incubators. They just make startups meet the right shepherds for them. However, the shepherds that startups take may want to take part in getting equity but that is between the shepherd and the startup and it’s their mutual understanding.

JumpStart Pakistan do not officially “graduate” startups. They just take them on board and then guide them through the process of refining their idea enough to successfully pitch it in front of investors and then make them meet shepherds who can guide them further. However, over a 100 startups have pitched in multiple Shepherd’s Pie events. (See “What is Shepherd’s Pie”)

Getting a year-long membership at JumpStart Pakistan is very simple. You visit their website, go to the “Membership” tab in the header, click it, you’ll be given options for the kind of membership you wish to avail. Choose your type, click on “Details”, go through the details of incentives given, then hit “Subscribe”. You’ll be given the available options of payment method. Choose what suits you and click on “Confirm”.

“Shepherd’s Pie” is an annual startup idea investment season following a pattern similar to Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank. Startup ideas are provided an easy-to-access platform to meet mentors and Shepherds (CEOs and other Angel Investors) in order to refine them and their idea. It is conducted in cities all around Pakistan in hunt of the most innovative startup idea for the year. That idea is then given the opportunity to fly to Switzerland to represent Pakistan in seedstarsummit* and have a run at winning up to $1 Million in investment.

The cities to be covered in Shepherd’s Pie Season V 2019 are:

1. Hyderabad
2. Islamabad
3. Gujranwala
4. Gujrat
5. Bhawalpur
6. Sargodha
7. Faisalabad
8. Sialkot
9. Multan
10. Quetta
11. Lahore
12. Karachi
13. Muzaffarabad
14. Swat
15. Gilgit Baltistan

There are multiple ways to secure a pitching slot in any Shepherd’s Pie episode.

1. JumpStart Pakistan Membership (See “How can one get membership at JumpStart Pakistan?”)
2. Shepherd’s Pie complete season registration (Follow the website, newsletters or social media for updates on season launch and join when announced)
3. Registration in any Shepherd’s Pie episode currently launched. (Follow the website, newsletters or social media for updates on event launch and join when announced.)

2 of JumpStart Pakistan’s groomed startups have qualified for an international event via Shepherd’s Pie. The event is called seedstarsummit* and it is held in Switzerland. The names of the startups are:

1. DoctHERS
2. TAME

There is no fixed amount to what you may score as investment in any particular Shepherd’s Pie episode. Many startups have received on-stage investment commitments while the season qualifiers get a chance to participate in seedstarsummit* on behalf of Pakistan via JumpStart and can ultimately score up to $1 Million in investment.

There are many initial incentives that any pitching startup can avail from Shepherd’s Pie event.

1. A chance at gathering immediate investment
2. Opportunity to score a mentor and/or a permanent shepherd who can help grow your idea.
3. A probable chance at participating in seedstarsummit*
4. A year long incubation at LaunchPad7.
5. Networking with the right people to help you refine your startup idea.

Just like the participants, attendees have their own set of incentives attached to attending any Shepherd’s Pie episode. For instance

1. Networking opportunities with prominent industry big shots and other knowledgeable dignitaries.
2. A chance to learn from other people’s struggle and success stories.
3. Certificates of Participation.

No, it’s not at all mandatory. JumpStart Pakistan works on the policy of every startup being equally important and having equal potential of making the required difference. You can look up the startups section of the website to see what startups we have helped in the past. They belong to every aspect of the industry.

No, not at all. You can attend any Shepherd’s Pie event if you have a curious and knowledge seeking mind. You can attend even if you only wish to see what Shepherd’s Pie is about.

If you follow the procedure of registering and are selected to pitch in any Shepherd’s Pie episode, you are given stage time (which varies from 5 to 15 minutes). In that time, you present your idea live in front of the Shepherds’ panel in your own words. You can demonstrate any prototypes you have and then the panel asks you questions. You might get investment commitment right there on stage if you are able to impress even one of the Shepherds.

Change Pakistan Conference (CPC) is a platform which was created in order to establish a more tangible connection between industry academia and the future we want. A future with a stable entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan and the people we consider as catalysts in bringing that change, the start-up ideas and the minds behind them.
It is a detailed 1 daylong conference in which knowledgeable dignitaries, innovators and leaders are invited to share their experience-earned wisdom with a crowd of people in their initial stage of developing a successful entrepreneurial venture. University innovations, FYPs and start-ups from all across Pakistan are invited in this conference and are then presented to pitching sessions and access to exhibiting their ideas in order to help them eventually gather investments and also to panel discussions where experts from giant companies discuss their ideas and points of view.

Jumpstart Pakistan – an initiative through which you can play your part in changing Pakistan. If you want to be part of this initiative, our only requirement is for you to have on Entrepreneurial Mindset!

Shepherd's Pie

LIFT Pakistan

Startup City

Dinner with the CEO

Leader's Track

Entrepreneurial Movie Night