Mezino Technologies Pakistan celebrated its 10 year long journey with members of the global and local Information Technology Industry at Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore today. The event was well attended by Mezino’s employees, businessmen, Venture Capitalists, All Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), USAID Punjab and IBM Pakistan.
Mezino representative Fouad Bajwa welcomed the guests and made amusing introductory remarks outlining the past 10 years journey of Mezino Technologies making parallel humorous references to world events that took place in 2007 during the founding year of the company. He shared the evolution of Mezino’s business and indicated its future directions.
The highlight of the celebration was an expert panel discussion on the topic of how companies can grow to Mid-Stage and beyond and what kind of challenges and opportunities are there in the local and global context. The panel was hosted by Lea Swanson, Provincial Director Punjab USAID and included industry leading personalities such as Ghazanfar Ali, Country General Manager IBM International Business Machines; Chris Scheetz, Founder and Managing Member at 1839 Ventures, Austin, Texas; Jehan Ara, President Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT & IT Enabled Services (P@SHA) and The NEST I/O; and Zafar Khan, CEO SOFIZAR Pakistan and CTO and President ConstellationCK USA.
Ms. Lea Swanson shared USAID’s objectives and how they are adding value to the development sector in Pakistan. She stressed that at USAID, they are trying to support the business sector in Pakistan which is the backbone of country’s economy. We always connect and collaborate with the business sector where employability is the key factor in business is this is one of the key concerns for USAID. Mr. Zafar Khan said that for him Data Analytics was a huge area of interest. Here in Pakistan, we start new companies and nobody trusts us however, we also try to be a rock star but in reality it is much more difficult. It’s about how you make your startup a successful business. He said, “If you are willing to raise investment for your startup you should be very clear in it and be a businessman rather than just try to be a rock star”. My successful company is actually the 6th idea I worked on and we succeeded remarkably.
Mr. Chris shared his valuable feedback about the Start-up funding opportunities during Mezino Technologies 10th Celebration Ceremony. He said, “The accelerators and incubators in Pakistan are already doing good work and doing the due diligence for us”. In response to a question about the Pakistani market’s perception for startups and businesses, he said that, 1839 Ventures is the first Venture Fund that has come to Pakistan from the US and we have high hopes. And I hope that startups will get the funding and it will encourage other funds to invest to Pakistani Startups. What really is important for us is how you are going to change the lives of people.
Ms. Jehan Ara shared her valuable insights about the industry from Pakistan’s perspective. She said, the public is not concerned with the team developing the product but the solution they are getting from that product. She said, “New startups and amazing ideas are coming and things are taking off”. We are raising funds from the local and international markets. She appreciated the fact that 1839 Ventures fund from the US joining hands with Pakistan to support startup’s was big news. Responding to a question she stressed, “The best thing in a company is its culture and within that culture how you treat your team is what matters the most”
Mr. Ghazanfar Ali said, startups should really know that why are they launching in the first place. The companies that have grown big had a strong vision and they knew from the beginning in which direction and at what level they will go to. He said, “Pakistan is the land of opportunities”. Pakistan has a large number of mobile and social media users that will continuously grow with time. Businesses which focus on providing value are the ones that become successful.
The panel discussion ended with the comments that entrepreneurs should be focusing on the building blocks, thinking process and learning new technologies because it’s critically important for startups to aware of upcoming business opportunities and the changing technology environment.
The panel was followed by presentations from the various segments of Mezino Technologies. Farrukh Usman, Founder and CEO of Byonys Medical Devices shared his motivations behind moving to Pakistan in order to bring medical innovation to this country followed with presentations by Eric Flachbart and Franklin J. Rudolph. The next presenter Fouad Bajwa introduced FootMetrics, a digital data platform for the Retail Sector in Pakistan. The final presenter Ali Rana, Co-Founder of Wahupa introduced a cutting edge enterprise resource planning platform for automating the global commerce and industry.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahmed Muzammil , CEO Mezino Technolgies shared his experiences along the journey and emphasized the value of the “Third Win”. He thanked everyone who was part of the Mezino journey and stressed on the importance of building long-term relationships for generating success and in personal, professional and business.
Mezino Technologies was founded in 2007 and provides product development to start-ups and businesses around the globe. The company maintains a portfolio of partnerships with its future forward looking technology product based companies including FootMetrics, Byonycs Medical Devices and Wahupa.
