As women entrepreneurs in Pakistan continue to face significant hurdles in accessing capital and professional networks, a collaborative initiative has launched its eighth iteration to empower female-led technology businesses with crucial training, funding, and global connections.
According to a ST report tody, Standard Chartered, in partnership with Village Capital and InnoVentures Global, announced on Wednesday the commencement of the eighth cohort of the Women in Tech Pakistan Accelerator, continuing an eight-year effort to bolster women-led, tech-enabled ventures.
The 2026 cohort aims to provide founders with investment readiness training, catalytic funding, and access to extensive networks to help them strengthen their commercial operations and position for future growth. The accelerator will be delivered locally by InnoVentures Global.
Since its inception in Pakistan, the scheme has assisted more than 1,300 enterprises, with over 150 women founders graduating and more than 50 ventures successfully securing seed financing.
Rehan Shaikh, Chief Executive Officer for Standard Chartered Pakistan, acknowledged the ongoing difficulties for female founders. ‘While access to funding and networks remains a challenge, expanding opportunities for women-led businesses is essential to building a stronger entrepreneurial landscape,’ he said.
Shaikh added, ‘Our focus is to equip founders with the tools, capital access, and structured support they need to scale sustainably. By strengthening the pipeline of women-led businesses, we aim to foster innovation, create jobs, and drive meaningful economic impact.’
The programme’s effectiveness was underscored by past results. Nakami Walunywa, Regional Director at Village Capital, noted the success of the previous year’s participants. “In 2025, 71 women-led startups in the programme grew their businesses and collectively generated over USD 2 million in additional revenue,” she stated.
Walunywa explained that this demonstrates that with structured, localised assistance and catalytic capital, founders can ‘strengthen their strategies, engage investors confidently, and unlock sustainable impact.’
The broader three-year initiative is expected to benefit 400 women founders across the region by addressing key barriers in finance and business development. Globally, the accelerator has supported over 4,000 women across 17 markets.
Nida Athar, Founder of the local delivery partner InnoVentures Global, commented on the resilience of participants. She observed that these founders are ‘building credible, growth-oriented businesses that contribute meaningfully to the economy’ and are shaping ‘a pipeline of strong role models for future generations.’
Applications for the Pakistan cohort are open until 1 May 2026, with the programme scheduled to run for selected participants between June and October.
For the current year, the global programme has allocated more than USD 600,000 in grant funding to entrepreneurs across 12 markets, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, South Africa, and Nigeria.