Women in tech

Women in Tech Accelerator 2026 (Pakistan)

You’ve built your startup.
Now it’s time to scale.

Applications are Now Open

INNOVentures Global revamped the programme in its 6th year (Now in 8th year) to maximize the impact of Futuremakers Women in Tech Accelerator, designed to equip women entrepreneurs with catalytic funding, expert mentorship, and the tools to scale their ventures.

The Women in Tech Accelerator Pakistan, powered by the Standard Chartered
Foundation and delivered in partnership with Village Capital and INNOVentures
Global, is designed for women founders who are ready to grow their tech-enabled startups with the right support, structure, and capital.
This programme supports validated, growth-stage startups — businesses that are already in motion and ready to scale sustainably.

About the Accelerator

The Women in Tech Accelerator is a global initiative by the Standard Chartered Foundation, delivered across Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan.
Globally, the programme aims to:
● Support 400 women entrepreneurs across 12 countries — including
Pakistan — over the 3 years
● Distribute over USD 1.9M in catalytic grants globally
● Enable and support 1,200+ jobs across participating markets
● Connect women founders to a global network of peers, funders, and industry experts

Through this programme, we support women founders to build, scale, and lead
businesses that create meaningful impact in their communities.

Programme Structure

Selected ventures will experience a structured journey designed to maximise growth and impact:

1. Selection: Up to 30 women founders shortlisted after pitch and due diligence
2. Capacity Building: 1-week bootcamp to strengthen business models and scaling plans
3. Validation Phase: 10 ventures receive seed grants to pilot test scaling plans + 2-month
mentorship via IGPL
4. Scale-up Phase: Top 3 ventures awarded scale-up grants of PKR 5M, 3.5M, 2M
5. Global Access: Connection to global peers, funders & mentors via Village Capital & Standard
Chartered ecosystem

Who Should Apply?

We are looking for women founders building startups that are ready to scale.

Your startup should:

● Be a women-led, with a Pakistani woman in a key ownership or leadership role
● Be registered entities (Private Limited, Non-profit, or Sole Proprietorship) operating for at least 6 months and up to 5 years
● Be in the early stage (under USD 100K revenue and USD 500K funding)
● Be a tech-first or tech-enabled Business
● Show early traction (revenue, users, or pilots) and have a clear plan to scale using catalytic capital
Founders are typically between 18–35 years of age, in line with programme criteria.

Key Benefits

Access to catalytic grant funding

Global exposure and networking opportunities

Personalised mentorship and capacity building

Support to validate, scale, and expand your business

Applications for Cohort 8 (2026) are open.

Application deadline: April 30, 2026

nida.athar@innoventuresglobal.com or mahnoor.innoventuresglobal@gmail.com

Women in Tech Cohort 8

Please tell us about yourself

First Name

Last Name

Designation

Date of birth

Name of your Startup

Mobile Number

CNIC

City

About your Business

Please provide the website or Facebook URL of your venture

Which countries do you currently operate in?

Please choose the type of organisation you represent?

If not yet registered, when do you intend to do it by?

Registration Number and NTN (if any) for the entity

Since when is your venture/business in operation? Please provide month and year.

What is your business model

How many people are were employed in your venture (a) 12 months ago and (b) currently employed in your venture. Please tell us number of founders, fulltime and partime employees, as well as volunteers. Also, please share number of women and specially-abled employees out of the total.

In which category does your product, service, or proposed project fit?

What is the current state of your idea/venture/product/service?

In no more than 250 words, please provide a public profile of your company. SC or INNOVentures may use this profile in public communication to describe your company.

Please provide a one sentence description of your company.

In no more than 500 words, tell us about your venture.

Select the sector that most aligns with your business operations

Which Women in Tech Thematic Pillar(s) are most aligned with your venture?

Please describe in no more than 250 words the composition of your current team, particularly those who owns equity in the company or venture, and what are their names and percentages of equity ownership (especially female founders) in the company. Also, tell us about other key employees.

In no more than 250 words, please describe your most current 12-month, 3-month, and 1-month revenue (PKR), potential market size, and projected revenue for 6-months and 12 months going forward? If there any major revenue streams please provide this data for each revenue stream separately.

In USD, how much revenue have you earned to date?

In USD, how much revenue do you project to earn in the next 12 months?

In USD, how much capital have you raised to date?

In no more than 250 words, describe the primary bottleneck to scaling your venture or idea.

In no more than 500 words, Please provide a technology project or idea for which you will seek funding from the Women in Tech Accelerator? If you get SC grant, how precisely will this use of funds help you scale your venture?

In no more than 100 words, Please describe if your company uses inclusive business practices? And how.

Has your business, or any of the founders/the management team previously been through an incubation/acceleration?

Has your business ever raised funds (from investors) or grants (from donors, etc.), if so, please describe what, when, and how much? What did you use these funds for?

Describe your traction. Include: Number of customers, users, market feedback, partnerships, etc.

Which SDG(s) does your company target?

How did you hear about the Women In Tech Programme?

I certify that I fully agree with the primary purpose of the Women in Tech Accelerator (namely to help businesses scale) and that my businesss is fully eligible for the programme (is at least 1/3 female owned and female operated, between 6 months and 5 years old, and is either registered or will be registered shortly). If any of these statements are not full true, you must take necessary steps to register or distribute equity before you make your final pitch to the jury and provide proof in writing.

Please provide a pitch deck that could help us better understand your business or idea? (optional)

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