LAHORE: The LUMS Center for Entrepreneurship, established with a vision to making it the largest breeding ground for sustainable, high-growth and high-impact businesses in Pakistan,has inducted its first batch of startups into The Foundation business incubator for a four-month programme.

The centre management led by Khurram Zafar, an entrepreneur himself, as well as an independent council of leading entrepreneurs are inducting the most promising ones into this programme.

The Foundation offers co-working space, utilities, internet, and other administrative support to the start-ups as well as access to a network of world-class mentors, business leaders and investors, who guide and groom the young entrepreneurs.

The centre is also collaborating with investors to put together a seed stage investment fund for the startups as well as collaborate with business centre developers to offer subsidised office space to the graduates of the programme.

The teams that have been inducted as the first batch of The Foundation include Cognitica that develops augmented reality based mobile and marketing solutions.

Beed, based on research done at LUMS, is working on making all broadcast content interactive with the aid of smart phones.

Savaree is building a trust-based, ride share social network that allows drivers to monetise the free passenger seats in their cars by posting routes and connecting with riders that share that route.

Bugdev Studios is a team of passionate mobile game developers and designers that build and publish creative, fun, action-packed games that make people think, feel and enjoy.

Other startups are BizClout, a one-stop solution to fully e-commerce enable SMEs within 15 minutes using a proprietary content management and e-commerce platform. The company offers valueadded products to promote and market these online brands as well.

MARO, oven-baked bread (tandoori roti and naan) is one of the mostcommonly consumed food item in Pakistan and it aims to set up a network of `tandoors` that provide healthy bread and an immaculate consumer experience at the same price as traditional facilities.

Appography aims to improve the customer experience by introducing a visual navigation IVR (Interactive Voice Response), in a clutter-free, simplified and more consumable manner on customer smart phones.

Mr Zafar says: `Entrepreneurship is the future of our country and the LCE aims to scout the best entrepreneurs from all over Pakistan and provide them everything they need to succeed and turn their dreams into realities.