Pakistani startup Cowlar won the top prize of Rs. 1 million at Pakistan Startup Cup 2016. Cowlar announces to establish a Cowlar Village with prize money
Pakistani startup Cowlar, better known as ‘Fitbit for Cows’, has won the top prize of Rs. 1 million (US$100,000) at Pakistan Startup Cup 2016 held in Islamabad. The runner-up startups are: CricFlex, Snooze Wear, Ghar Par.
The Startup Cup was organized by TiE n collaboration with US State Department to encourage entrepreneurs in the country to implement their innovative ideas by embracing technology.
The event was organized by Startup Cup along with TiE and US State Department to encourage entrepreneurs in the country to implement their innovative ideas by embracing technology.
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Pratt congratulated the members of the top 12 teams and encouraged them to continue pursuing their startup dreams beyond the conclusion of this competition.
“As President Obama said, ‘I believe that entrepreneurs like you can make the world a better place, one idea at a time,’” Pratt commented. “Tonight, we’ve seen that Pakistani women and men are doing just that, by developing plans to help farmers optimize their operations, to provide affordable clean drinking water, and to create prosthetic devices for amputees.”
TiE Islamabad President Sarah Hashwani said: “TiE Islamabad is both proud and humbled to be a part of this revolution in Pakistan’s entrepreneurial landscape.”
Winners of Pakistan StartUp 2016 winners are:
- First: Cowlar (won $10,000)
- Runner Up: CricFlex ( $750,000)
- 2nd Runner Up: Tie between Snooze Wear and Ghar Par (won $500,000)
What is Cowlar?
Cowlar is a wearable device for dairy animals, particularly cows, to improve dairy milk production and health of farm animals.
The device is tied around the animal’s neck which tracks temperature, activity and cow behavior. This data is then analyzed and offer actionable recommendations to the farmers to boost reproduction rates, identify diseases, improve milk yield and track locations.
How winning startup Cowlar can benefit dairy industry?
Cowlar will use the prize money to establish a Cowlar Village and to provide free Cowlar gadgets to Pakistani farmers.
“We will be spending the one million rupees to create a model Cowlar village near Islamabad” CEO of Cowlar, Umer Adnan announced.
“We will also provide more than 100 cowlars (smart collars for cows) free of cost to farmers and train them on how to use the tech. This could generate $3000 to $5000 in extra income every month for the dairy farmers ($36,000 to $60,000 per annum)” said Adnan explaining how the prize money will benefit small farmers.
Pakistan is the fourth-highest milk producing nation with an estimated 42 billion litres of milk produced annually. The industry, one of the largest in the country, has about 63 million animals producing milk with over 8m households involved. Cowlar’s smart collars for cows can be a game-changer in Pakistan’s dairy industry.