FINCA Microfinance Bank sponsored “She Loves Tech: A Global Step Forward”, organized by CIRCLE – which is a social enterprise committed to women’s leadership development and economic empowerment. The competition was held in Innovative District 92, in Lahore.
Aero Engine Craft Pvt Ltd won the first place with their unique idea of developing a contrail-free aero-engine, which is environmentally friendly. This innovative engine has an incredible capacity to revolutionise the aviation industry. While Marham won the second spot in the competition. Marham is a platform which connects patients with doctors via its app and online forum. These winners will move on to finals, which will take place in Karachi.
FINCA is a strong proponent of women empowerment within the communities it operates in. On its client side, FINCA is offering appropriate products and services to women to encourage their utilization of financial services. Women use these facilities to have a greater control over their financial well-being, help improve their family livelihoods and allow the communities, which they live in, to progress as a whole. On its employee side, FINCA has worked hard to improve diversity and inclusion for women at its workplace. It recently set up a “Women Leadership Forum” to organize and oversee women empowerment, development & career progression at the bank.
‘She Loves Tech’ is the world’s largest start-up competition & international conference which is held in multiple countries including Pakistan, China, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. This is an incredible platform which will encourage women founded innovative start-up companies in the field of artificial intelligence, data analytics, FinTech, MedTech etc.
Commenting on this initiative, FINCA Pakistan’s CEO M Mudassar Aqil said, “Supporting the ‘She loves Tech’ competition underlines FINCA’s ethos of working hard to create equal opportunities for women. Globally, there are great examples of women excelling in STEM fields. I firmly believe we can find and nurture great women-led tech start-ups in Pakistan as well. I look forward to great technology ideas coming out from this competition.”
The competition was judged by the prominent business personalities who are experts within their respective industry domains in Pakistan. The names of the Judges included Nusrat Jamil, COO of Latitude; Faisal Sherjan, Director Operations at National Incubation Centre, Lahore; Amna Quraishi, Officer Colabs and Rabeel Warraich, CEO/Founder of Sarmayacar.
