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Good practice Imported

National Incubation Center (NIC) Lahore — Pakistan's Government-Backed Startup Incubator

Pakistan · Lahore · See the Pakistan profile · See the Lahore profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 76% 57/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Launched in December 2017 by Ignite (Pakistan's Ministry of IT) and LUMS, NIC Lahore has run nine investor-summit cohorts and reports 350+ startups incubated and over Rs5 billion raised by its portfolio — figures self-reported and not separated from the wider 8-city NIC network.

350+ startups
Startups incubated at NIC Lahore since 2017 (2017-2025)
5 billion Rs (~US$18M)
Portfolio capital raised (cumulative since 2017)
1 billion Rs
Portfolio revenue generated (cumulative since 2017)
~50 startups/year
Startups incubated annually (recent years)
~10 startups/year
Startups accelerated annually (recent years)
~25 %
Women-led startups in portfolio (recent years)
1,990+ startups
Startups incubated, national NIC network (late 2025)
31.6 billion Rs
Capital raised, national NIC network (late 2025)
27 billion Rs
Revenue generated, national NIC network (late 2025)
185,000+ jobs
Jobs supported, national NIC network (late 2025)
National Incubation Center (NIC) Lahore — Pakistan's Government-Backed Startup Incubator

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
National Incubation Center (NIC) Lahore — Ignite (National Technology Fund, Ministry of IT & Telecommunication) and LUMS
Period
2017–present
Keywords
Startup incubation, technology entrepreneurship, venture funding readiness

Context

The National Incubation Center (NIC) Lahore was inaugurated on 23 December 2017 at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) campus, the second location in Pakistan's government-backed National Incubation Center network after Islamabad (2016). The network has since expanded to eight centres nationwide (as of late 2025).

Activities

NIC Lahore runs cohort-based incubation and acceleration programmes across sectors including agritech, cleantech, edtech, healthtech and fintech, culminating in investor-summit pitch events.

Results

Since 2017, NIC Lahore has incubated 350+ startups (self-reported), whose portfolio has raised an estimated Rs5 billion (~US$18 million) and generated around Rs1 billion in revenue. The centre incubates roughly 50 startups and accelerates around 10 per year, with about 25% women-led. Across the full eight-centre national NIC network, self-reported figures for late 2025 show 1,990+ startups incubated, Rs31.6 billion raised, Rs27 billion in revenue, and 185,000+ jobs supported. These are organisational self-reports; no independent impact evaluation was identified, though a 2024 i2i Pakistan Startup Ecosystem Report provides third-party market context.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Not published in available sources.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Operating continuously since inauguration on 23 December 2017; multiple cohorts run per year with roughly 50 startups incubated and 10 accelerated annually.

Conditions for success

  • University hosting (LUMS campus) providing infrastructure and academic linkage
  • Structured cohort model across multiple sectors (agritech, cleantech, edtech, healthtech, fintech) culminating in investor-summit pitch events
  • Part of a broader national network (expanded from 2 to 8 centres, 2016-2025) enabling shared branding and standards

Common failure modes

  • Pakistan's broader startup environment sees 80%+ of startups close within three years (national context, not NIC-specific attrition data)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

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