The Women Business Incubation Center has opened applications for its upcoming cohort, inviting aspiring women entrepreneurs across four Punjab cities to apply for business training and mentorship. The programme is designed for women who want to launch, grow, or scale their businesses, with organisers saying the cohort will help participants build essential skills and gain guidance to support their entrepreneurial journey.
The incubation programme will run in Lahore, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, and Rawalpindi, with the last date to apply set for July 19. The Women Business Incubation Center said the initiative aims to provide women with practical training, mentorship, and business development support to help them navigate the challenges of starting or expanding a business.
The Women Business Incubation Center operates under the Punjab Small Industries Corporation and the Punjab Women Development Department, and has steadily expanded its footprint across the province in recent years. What began as a single flagship centre in Lahore has since grown to include additional locations, with officials describing each site as tailored to the economic strengths of its region, including a Faisalabad centre focused on supporting women in manufacturing and export businesses and a Rawalpindi centre connecting women entrepreneurs with opportunities in the federal capital region and defence related industries.
The expansion builds on a broader push by Punjab’s Industries and Commerce Department to scale up the incubation model beyond its original locations. Provincial officials had previously announced plans to establish additional centres in cities including Multan, Layyah, Gujrat, Sahiwal, and additional locations in Faisalabad and Rawalpindi, with authorities directing that new centres be built to modern standards and offer improved facilities compared to earlier iterations of the programme. Officials have also highlighted plans to deepen collaboration with universities, industrial estate developers, and women’s chambers of commerce to strengthen the training curriculum and expand access to funding and market opportunities for participants.
According to data from Pakistan’s Economic Census, women owned businesses continue to represent a small share of the country’s overall enterprise landscape, with limited access to resources and financing cited as key barriers preventing more women from starting or formalising businesses. Programmes such as the Women Business Incubation Center are intended to address this gap by offering subsidised office space, mentorship, and structured training curricula covering areas such as agriculture, e-commerce, and sustainable business practices, with the goal of helping participants transition from early stage ideas to independently operating, revenue generating businesses within a defined incubation period. Interested applicants can find more details and apply directly through the centre’s official channels ahead of the July 19 deadline.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
