what we learnt

#GenderEquality is one of the most prominent challenges globally that we all have to work together to address. Our next guest, Roshaneh Zafar, is the Founder & Managing Director of Pakistan's first micro-finance organization that has worked extensively towards women's economic empowerment: Kashf Foundation.

In this this session of daftarkhwan insights, "Empowering Women" we're excited to hear from the woman herself who has been able to maintain this vision for the last 20 + years of empowering women and alleviating poverty by providing low-income households with
microfinance products and much more.

This session is hosted by our favorite, Hammad Anwar. He is the founder of the multimedia platform "Sukhan سخن" which highlights the lives of people who have contributed to the country in various capacities.

Jehan Ara is a superwoman and a boss lady. From supporting the startup ecosystem to gender diversity - she's been unstoppable. We're talking about none other than the queen of the startup ecosystem and IT industry in Pakistan, Jehan Ara. She has extensive experience of 28 + years in marketing and interactive new media in the Far East, Honk Kong, UAE & Pakistan and was the President of P@SHA for 17+ years and started her own incubation center; NEST I/O which has incubated 189+ startups. She's now the founder and CEO at Katalyst Labs.

This podcast is hosted by our very own - Saad Idrees, CEO & Founder of daftarkhwan!

Dr. Mariam Chughtai is an Assistant Professor at LUMS and Director Pakistan Programs at Harvard University Mittal South Asia Institute. As a teaching fellow, Dr. Chughtai taught Negotiations at Harvard Law School, Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, along with several courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Our host for this podcast is the talented, Annum Sadiq, co - founder of Edkasa. She is a Fulbright Scholar and has a MSc in Public Policy and has previously worked in the education sector in different settings.

This podcast will highlight the key role various stakeholders play in the education sector of Pakistan, how technology has become an integral part of the education system and how parents and students are adapting to this shift.

Listen to this podcast to get some valuable insights on the current scenario of Pakistans education system and where is it heading in the future.

This time for a daftarkhwan fireside chat, we're hosting Faisal Aftab, Co - Founder & Managing Director at Zayn Capital which is a venture capital fund with a primary focus on seed and growth stage ventures in Pakistan and Middle East and North Africa.

With an MBA degree from Oxford University, joint Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Michigan State University USA, and close to two decades of experience as an investor, entrepreneur and executive in diversified industries, Faisal Aftab is a veteran in his field. He is also a limited partner of the Silicon Valley-based Venture Capital Fund 500 Startups. 

With the rise of COVID-19 and consequent lockdowns, Pakistan has become a hotbed for online grocery apps. Leading the charge is GrocerApp: founded in 2016, GrocerApp is a local mobile e-commerce platform that is transforming the shopping experience by bringing the mega store to your door step.

Over the last couple of years, GrocerApp has raised a significant amount of venture capital from local & international investors alike and have skyrocketed in scale. Our next guest of daftarkhwan | Fireside, Ahmad Saeed, is the CEO and Co-founder of GrocerApp who shared his remarkable journey as the COO of PakWheels - one of the OG startups to be operating in the motor vehicle space - the many challenges he has faced and how he has overcome them.

This Fireside is hosted by one of the earliest investors in GrocerApp: Shoaib Zahid Malik - entrepreneur, investor and Partner at Walled City Co. 

What happens when the house of fashion & beauty meets one of the most influential blogger in the town - a mindblowing Fireside.

We're super pumped to announce our next guest. Mina Salman is a supermom, woman entrepreneur and Co - founder of bagallery - a fashion and beauty ecommerce platform that recently raised $900,000.

Interviewing Mina is uber talented, supercommunity member, Amna Niazi, Partner and Managing Editor at SiddySays, a content creator for digital & fashion and wardrobe stylist.

The talk emphasized on Minas journey of founding her own venture in 2011 with a team of 4 which has now grown to a tribe of 40 multi-talented individuals. The chat further focused on how women entrepreneurs can stay ahead of the game, play their essential role in driving the economies worldwide & what the future holds for them.

Dr. Omar Chughtai, Director Operations at Chughtai Lab, joined us for our second episode of What We Learnt! After graduating from King Edward Medical College, Dr. Omar Chughtai moved to the United States and did his residency in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at The University of Texas - Health Science Center at Houston. He is American Board Certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology and is a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists. He joined Chughtai Lahore Lab as a Lab Director in 2007.

Interviewing Dr. Omar is Shoaib Zahid Malik, an all-rounder who balances being an advisor & investor to some of Pakistan's leading hottest startups with being the Director of Kausar Group of Companies.

Our guest is the brilliant Kalsoom Lakhani: the founder of, Invest2Innovate (i2i) & General Partner at i2i Ventures that accelerates, invests and provides insights to Pakistani leading startups.

Interviewing Kalsoom is Shoaib Zahid Malik, an all-rounder who balances being an advisor & investor to some of Pakistan's leading hottest startups with being the Director of Kausar Group of Companies.

So, if you're a budding entrepreneur or just curious to know how startup investments work in Pakistan, check out this podcast.