LAHORE (PR): Throughput, Inc. (Formerly known as RigBasket) founded by Pakistani entrepreneur, Khizer Hayat, with operations in Pakistan, US and UAE, was recently selected as one of the Top 10 Global Startups at the Startup Grind Global Conference held at the Fox Redwood Theater in Silicon Valley from the 20th to the 22nd of February 2017. The selection process involved over 6,000 startups from 80 different countries and 200 different cities.
Startup Grind Startup Exhibition companies are an elite group of companies whose founders range from 16 year-old founders who gained 20,000 paying customers in 2 months to a professional basketball player, to a Medical Director at Yale, to a Resident Neurosurgeon at Duke University Hospital.
According to Derek Anderson, the founder of Startup Grind: “We started this program after seeing many of the Accelerators and Incubators not doing much to really help companies. We really wanted to make an actual difference in the startups trajectory and leverage all of our resources and network to their advantage.”
“Of the 6,000 plus startups that were considered, 100 were selected representing the Startup Grind community across 80 countries. These startups have great teams, traction, technology and massive markets,” says Andersen. “Our biggest goal is for each startup to go back home with a new and improved game plan that would not have happened without the exposure of the exhibition and the mentors/resources that were gained through our network.”
Throughput was initially selected amongst the Top 100 companies and then shortlisted as one of the Top 50 on the 16th of February 2017. During the conference they went through multiple advisory and training sessions, and were then picked as one of the Top 10 startups who were selected to pitch at Startup Court for a chance to automatically enter the 500 Startups Accelerator in California.
Unfortunately, Throughput could not win the competition losing out to a healthcare company called MUrgency. However, theydid end up getting extremely favorable feedback from investors and are considering shifting their US headquarters to Silicon Valley based on the success of the conference.
The company was launched by Khizer and his partner Ali in Houston, TX when they saw a large talent gap in the global supply chain industry. Khizer and Ali met while students at the University of Pennsylvania and both ended up working at an upstream oilfield services company called Schlumberger.
Having backgrounds in Economics, Robotics, Chemical Process Engineering, Operations and Manufacturing, their team created an Artificial Intelligence based virtual supply chain advisor that augments supply chain professionals in highlighting and eliminating waste from their operations. Their product has received significant traction in the US market and they’re now looking to introduce it into the Middle East and Pakistan markets. Hailing from Pakistan, Khizer sees a lot of opportunity for the introduction of Artificial Financial Intelligence in Pakistani businesses and believes that it could push Pakistan to the forefront of technology.
