arhaan Riaz, whose credits include 15-odd ventures spanning a decade and half, is presently running TICK, a tech incubator at the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore. He claims to have “incubated over 170 startups that generated over 600 jobs and around $2m in bootstrapped revenue.”

Having studied business incubation management at the University of Queensland, Riaz was selected for the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Programme. Later, he represented Pakistan at various international forums, including the AUTM 2023 Conference in Austin, Texas. At UET, Lahore, he says, the incubator is trying to create an innovation ecosystem, mentoring startups through their early stages and helping them scale up.

According to Riaz, two of TICK’s startups have attracted noteworthy investments from venture capitalists. “Startups require more than just funding; they need a supportive ecosystem,” he tells The News on Sunday.

Lahore now has a number of public and private incubators. Public universities like the UET and the PU have got their own incubation centres. Private entities like Plan9 and PlanX continue........

© The News on Sunday