Powering customer acquisition for Pakistan's next generation of founders
A proposal from So&So Partnerships to the Prime Minister's National Innovation Award — free advertising onboarding, funded ad credit, and practical growth education for every PMNIA startup.
So&So Partnerships
So&So Partnerships is a Dubai-headquartered partnerships firm operating across Pakistan and the Gulf, working with global digital platforms to build small-business and startup ecosystems in high-growth markets.
Through our affiliation with Fast Ventures, we operate FastAds — TikTok's authorised route for onboarding small and medium-sized enterprises onto its advertising platform. Our purpose in approaching PMNIA is simple: to put that capability to work for Pakistan's most promising young founders.
From product to paying customers
The Prime Minister's National Innovation Award has built the pipeline: it finds Pakistan's most promising young founders, funds them, and incubates them through Business Incubation Centers nationwide. But the hardest transition for any funded startup is the one from product to paying customers.
TikTok has emerged as the preferred platform for brands, product owners, and entrepreneurs seeking to drive adoption among Pakistan's online population. The platform reaches 66.9 million adults in Pakistan — nearly half of all adults and close to six in ten internet users — and grew its advertising reach by 23% in a single year, making Pakistan one of TikTok's five largest markets worldwide. For a young company, there is no faster or larger stage on which to find its first customers.
Digital advertising is the fastest, most measurable route to first customers — yet most young founders never get past the practical barriers: setting up a business ad account, getting verified, enabling payments, and knowing what a good campaign actually looks like. Grant money is too precious to spend learning by trial and error.
The simplest, fully authorised way in
Pay in local currency
Founders fund their campaigns in Pakistani Rupees, removing the foreign-currency cards and cross-border payment hurdles that stop most small businesses before they start.
Verified ad accounts
Unverified accounts are detrimental to campaign performance. FastAds delivers fully verified business accounts, giving founders complete access to TikTok's advertising tools from day one.
A badged TikTok marketing partner
As an authorised marketing partner of TikTok, we provide white-glove service at scale — every account set up correctly, every founder supported by a team that works with the platform directly.
Cross-border advertising
FastAds enables advertising on TikTok across markets — the key for startups looking to expand beyond Pakistan into the Gulf and further afield.
A four-pronged commitment to every PMNIA startup
Each element is delivered end-to-end by the So&So team, at no cost to PMNIA, HEC, or the founder.
Free onboarding
We onboard every PMNIA-nominated startup onto TikTok's advertising platform free of charge — business ad account setup, verification, and payment enablement, handled end-to-end by our team.
USD 100 advertising credit
Every ad account that is approved and topped up receives USD 100 in advertising credit — meaning a founder's first campaigns are effectively co-funded, and their grant capital stretches further.
Customer acquisition education
Structured, practical training for PMNIA cohorts — delivered in partnership with the BIC network — covering campaign setup, creative that works on short-form video, audience targeting, budgeting, and measuring return on ad spend. Founders leave able to run their own acquisition campaigns.
Managed campaigns · optional
For startups that would rather focus on product, our team can plan and execute campaigns on their behalf as a managed service, with full transparency on spend and results.
Four steps from cohort to campaign
Share
PMNIA shares the opportunity with its cohorts using dedicated communication material we will build once the partnership is agreed.
Onboard
Our team sets up and verifies each startup's ad account, free of cost.
Activate
On approval and first top-up, USD 100 credit is added to the account.
Grow
Founders complete acquisition training and launch their first campaigns, with our team on hand for support or managed execution.
Three simple enablers
- Endorsement of the partnership and introduction to awardee cohorts
- Access to the BIC network for training delivery
- Co-branded communication to founders announcing the benefit
There is no financial commitment required from PMNIA, HEC, or the founders. The only money a founder spends is their own advertising budget — matched by our credit and guided by our training.
A discussion on the logistics of this roll-out between So&So and PMNIA.