Aitizaz Hassan ISLAMABAD, May 20 (INP-WealthPK): Two Pakistani women have made their mark in the “Rest of World” (RoW100), a global tech research forum. The RoW100 has declared 100 most powerful persons who are tech leaders, innovators, and investors. Kalsoom Lakhani, the founder of Invest2Innovate, and Jehan Ara, owner of Katalyst Labs, are representing Pakistan in the RoW100. Chief Finance Officer of Huawei Meng Wanzhuo, and Jean Liu, President of DiDi Chuxing ride hailing platform, are also listed among the 100 tech changemakers. The research team of RoW100 set out to find 100 most influential, innovative, and trailblazing personalities in fintech, e-commerce, policy, digital infrastructure, and a range of other sectors that intersect with and influence technology. Kalsoom Lakhani is a well-known figure in the Pakistan startups space. Kalsoom is the co-founder and general partner at Invest2Innovate, a startups consultancy firm. She also raises the early-stage venture capital fund for Pakistani startups. Invest2Innovate has so far nurtured 47 startups that have gone on to raise over $7.5 million and created over 2,000 jobs. She is the country’s first female founder of a virtual capital fund. Invest2Innovate has invested in Pakistani startups like TelloTalk, Edkasa, Creditbook, Abhi, Oraan, Tazah, Truck It In, EZBike, and Metric. Kulsoom has also trained young entrepreneurs, changemakers, and civil society leaders in Kosovo, Nepal, Cambodia, Ireland, Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. She represented Pakistan at numerous venues, including the World Economic Forum, Aspen Ideas Festival, United States Chamber of Commerce, US State Department, Global Entrepreneurship Summit, and South by Southwest (SXSW). Kalsoom is currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and serves on the board of the American Pakistan Foundation. Jehan Ara is the founder of Katalyst Labs, an accelerator and innovation hub for startups in Pakistan. She has been serving in the ecosystem industry of Pakistan for 15 years. Jehan Ara grew up in Hong Kong and moved back to Pakistan in the ’90s to set up a multimedia company, and joined the Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA) — her gateway into the country’s then-fledgling tech industry. Jehan Ara went on to become the PASHA president and founded The Nest I/O, a tech incubator in 2021. Ara has been focused on Katalyst Lab’s work to boost startups across the fintech, mobile commerce, foodtech, agri-tech, edtech, and health tech industries. She is also a member of the World Bank’s Gender Advisory Council, where she advocates for women in tech and advises the government of Punjab province on information technology. Global Tech’s Changemakers list of 100 individuals influences how products are made and distributed, how entrepreneurs are funded, how tech is regulated, and its users protected far beyond their local markets. As a result of the extraordinary headwinds they face, the research team of RoW100 believes that these leaders are more innovative and thoughtful at sharing new ideas. Rest of World is an international non-profit research organization. It documents what happens when technology, culture and the human experience strike, especially in those places which are usually overlooked and underestimated.