KARACHI, 12 May 2022 – After three successful years in Pakistan, Standard Chartered Bank in partnership with INNOVentures Global (Pvt.) Limited, announced the launch the Cohort 4 of SCWomeninTech
SCWomeninTech (WiT) supports female-led entrepreneurial teams with business management training, mentoring and seed funding. The WiT programme is designed to help address gender disparity in the technology sector and to use technology to tackle social challenges faced by communities. They are an important part of our entrepreneurship offering within Futuremakers by Standard Chartered, our global initiative to tackle inequality and promote economic inclusion.
In Pakistan, this initiative was launched in 2019 and so far out of the 700+ participating enterprises, 66 female founders have graduated and 19 of them have also received seed funding. Through this programme the Bank focuses on capacity building for women-owned small enterprises.
Commenting on this launch Mr. Rehan Shaikh, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Pakistan said, “I feel privileged to announce the launch of Cohort 4 of the SCWiT, curated with the objective of removing barriers, providing opportunities and furthering financial inclusion for women in Pakistan, which is a key priority of the Government and State Bank of Pakistan as well.
Over the years this programme has surfaced to be a great platform for aspiring women entrepreneurs in Pakistan by helping them realise their true potential. This initiative further builds upon Standard Chartered’s focus on increasing women’s access to entrepreneurial finance and supporting adolescent girls and women through capacity building. It encapsulates the essence of the Bank’s sustainability strategy of Futuremakers, enabling the next generation to learn, earn and grow.”
Partnering with INNOVentures Global, the Standard Chartered Women in Tech programme aims to promote the economic and social development of women in Pakistan through innovation or technology led entrepreneurship. This initiative was launched in Pakistan in 2019. #SCWomenInTech is aimed at helping identify and grow female led businesses by bringing their unique business ideas to the market whilst celebrating women in Pakistan.
The WiT Incubators were first launched in October 2014 by Standard Chartered Americas as a local community project. The programme is now active in nine countries and since 2019 has reached a total of 1,632young people along with providing a seed funding of USD 447,000.
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About the Standard Chartered Pakistan
Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Ltd. is the oldest and largest international bank in Pakistan since 1863. It is also the first international bank to be awarded Islamic banking licence and the first to open an Islamic banking branch.
The Bank serves Corporate & Institutional, Commercial and Retail Clients through a comprehensive suite of products and services. Corporate & Institutional Banking comprises global subsidiaries, international corporates, financial institutions and sovereign clients.
Commercial Banking serves local corporates and small & medium sized clients. Retail Banking serves priority, premium, personal and business banking clients. All segments offer a complete suite of Islamic banking products and services under Standard Chartered Saadiq brand and state of the art digital banking solutions.
Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited is listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) and was assigned a rating of AAA / A1+ by PACRA.
The Bank employs more than 2,700 people in Pakistan and has a network of 150 touch points (53 branches, 164 ATMs, 25 CDMs and 8 CDKs) across 11 cities.