Fori Mazdoori Set to Slash the Digital Divide for Labour in Karachi

Fori Mazdoori (FM) is a smart social labour initiative that thrives on digital inclusion by connecting blue-collared workers with employers instantly across Pakistan. FM bridges the gap between the non-tech savvy worker and the dynamic digital world through its integrated platforms – bilingual apps, a fully functional website, and retailers that serve as registration centers for the blue collared workers. This innovative job connecting start-up launches its operations in Karachi this month with 50 Telenor retailers onboard. They are also planning to launch in other cities with multiple telecom and logistic partners. Fori Mazdoori Set to Slash the Digital Divide for Labour in Karachi.

Smart social labour initiative enters the biggest market in Pakistan

The startup while building upon the core values of shared economy aims to digitally enable about 3 million+ workers in getting access to better and more frequent jobs.

“A worker who neither understands technology nor has access to the internet, now has the possibility to have a 24/7 online presence through a profile with star ratings, photos, videos, friends and recommendations.”

Says Dr. Musstanser Tinauli, founder of FM.

With the alarming underemployment, growing unemployment rate currently at 6% and about 30% of the country’s population living below poverty line. Fori Mazdoori provides an innovative additional channel for workers to get access to more jobs by enabling prospective employers to search rated skilled workers near them.

Fori Mazdoori Set to Slash the Digital Divide for Labour in Karachi

How does it all work now?

The worker registers by walking into a Fori Mazdoori partner registration outlet, such as Telenor biometric-enabled retailer, where the retailer creates the profile of the worker by entering key information such as name, skill, ID and experience in a FM worker registration app (that has been designed mostly in Urdu). The registration process makes the workers instantly searchable in their vicinity through forimazdoori.com and our Android App. The employer’s after connecting and hiring the workers are invited to rate, recommend and feedback on worker’s performance.

Fori Mazdoori has also set a new trend by raising about 50,000 USD as convertible notes. Convertible notes allow startups to continue their growth and work without having to worry about the valuations at the point of the raise. We have so far received two checks, one from our partner Info Tech (a top software solution provide in Lahore) and an Australian angel investor. Fori Mazdoori has also signed MOU’s with country’s top training institutes such as National Vocational & Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC).

The founder of FM, Dr. Musstanser Tinauli, holds a PhD in Design and has worked in several international institutions including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Simula Research Lab and Politecnico di Milano, while always working under the umbrella of creating sustainable, smarter, and safer livelihoods and cities. Together with his international team, he spent three years to work at, improve and renew the concept behind FM to make it to what it is today.  Talking about the challenges, Dr. Tinauli adds, “Fori Mazdoori requires working on both the supply (workers) and demand (the employers) side of the equation. Not only do we have to organize labor such that it could be verified but also effectively create a critical mass of users. Pure network effects, I would say,” he notes.

In the last three years Fori Mazdoori has won several national and international awards including 15 top start-ups at Start-Up Istanbul 2016, Telenor Apportunity Challenge (2015), Digital Asia Winners, Best Startup Award in Pakistan startup Expo (2015) and were also in the first cohort of Telenor Velocity (2016). Fori Mazdoori has also received recognition in social and digital media.

For the future, Fori Mazdoori aims to become the largest and the most up-to date database of labour – not only in Pakistan but all across South Asia. We want to reach out to millions of workers to give them a chance to become part of the digital world whether they have access to Internet or not. If we are able to do this right we will be able to register about 3.65 million workers in less than a year that would potentially generate us a revenue worth two million US dollars. We have a self-sustainable business model and it can create a strong impact towards poverty alleviation, peace and progress for South Asia and Pakistan in particular.

We have a lot of opportunities for the community, government, training centers and investors to work with us. If you believe in what we are doing, please feel invited to reach out to us via social media (facebook.com/forimazdoori). We look forward to doing our bit in transiting Pakistan towards peace, prosperity and economic growth.