Ignite has inked a deal with Aviation City Pakistan to develop its first vertical incubator in Aerospace Technologies.
According to a news release, the National Incubation Centers in Aerospace Technologies (NICAT) would be constructed in the National Aerospace Science & Technology Park (NASTP) in Rawalpindi.
CEO Ignite, Asim Shahryar Husain, CEO ACPPL, Air Commodore Dr. Liaquat Ullah Iqbal SI(M), and CEO NETSOL, Salim Ghauri, signed the contract awarding NETSOL Technologies Ltd. with the responsibility of establishing NICAT. The Lahore-based NETSOL team participated online.
Asim Shahryar, CEO of Ignite, mentioned in his opening remarks that the global aviation business is currently valued at approximately $3.5 trillion. Ministry of IT and Ignite have therefore created this new incubator so that Pakistan can realise its potential in aeronautical technologies and get a portion of this enormous market.
The new Aerospace Technologies incubator will be Ignite’s seventh, with an emphasis on fostering aerospace and engineering-related high-tech firms.
According to him, the technical facilities at NASTP will enable our companies to build both software and hardware for aircraft systems.
The CEO of ACPPL, Air Commodore Dr. Liaquatullah Iqbal, SI(M), announced at the event that ACPPL is establishing NASTP to promote, form, and grow small to major aviation and space-related firms, laboratories, and R&D centres on a national level.
He added that NICAT will be built at NASTP and will aid in fostering and developing Pakistan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem in the aerospace industry.
According to Salim Ghauri, CEO of NETSOL Technologies Ltd., NICAT will translate the potential of aerospace and high-tech ICT-related ideas into reality in conformity with national and international demands and trends.
He stated that Netsol will utilise its 26 years of experience and international connections to ensure the success of entrepreneurs admitted to the new incubator.
Ignite’s seven existing NICs in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Hyderabad, and Faisalabad have incubated over 1150 startups that have created over 117,000 direct and indirect jobs, received Rs. 15.4 billion in capital, and generated Rs. 9.1 billion in revenue.
Renovations at NICAT are anticipated to be finished within three months, after which the first cohort of companies will be admitted.
Executive management of Ignite, Imran Jattala, CEO of Innovators Garage, and top officers from ACPPL and NASTP also attended the signing event.