Director of International business development, Bob Spence and Community Manager, Louise Cooke are delighted to confirm the C4DI membership of One Call. One Call is led by Tech Entrepreneur Gohar Sultan who previously worked with Bob developing advanced technology within the Middle East FinTech sector. One Call is currently based in Lahore Pakistan which is where Bob originally met Gohar.
Gohar has been working on creating an application that would support business development for all enterprise irrespective of their nature. The concept was that the end users would be able to communicate rapidly with nearby businesses and with a minimum number of actions to do so. This would mean that local businesses would only be ‘one call’ away. This concept was the start of the development of the ‘One Call’ brand which has already proved to be a major success in real estate as well as retail.
Developing technology always starts with an idea and around this idea Gohar was able to create the right team to take this forward with the ‘One Call’ business starting in Lahore.
Lahore is the capital of the province of Punjab Pakistan. This is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. Although the amount of venture capital invested in the startup ecosystem is seemingly low Lahore is recognised as one of the leading regions for Technology development in South Asia.
In June 2021 the California state parliament passed a resolution to make California, the United States and Punjab, Pakistan ‘Sister Provinces’. This creates a symbolic yet practical example of the high regard that Lahore based Tech has created in Silicon Valley.
The city of Lahore is also renowned for the achievements of Lahore computer prodigy Arfa Abdul Karim Randhawa. She became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) in 2004 and was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for her achievement. At the age of 10, she was invited by Bill Gates to visit the Microsoft headquarters in the United States!
Being based in this dynamic Tech City enabled Gohar to put together an international class team of Asif Bajwa, Syed Arsalan Qamar, and Harris Badar. Because of the strength of this group, they were able to take the concept forward quickly from an MVP to a product ready for export.
The ‘One Call’ team all come from different backgrounds which gives a strong picture of the exceptional range of connections that Gohar possesses.
Bob has already met Asif Bajwa. Asif is a former Olympian and World Cup final winner as an International Hockey Player. As you can imagine that he has an exceptionally high profile and a competitive outlook. Asif has always had a keen interest in Tech and an awareness of innovation and digital enterprise from his international perspective.
Arsalan Qamar has extensive corporate experience. Bob knows Arsalan as a professional organisational strategist. Because of this background Arsalan has developed policies and tactics that have ensured that ‘One Call’ has delivered target-oriented results so quickly.
Harris Badar is an Assistant Professor at a leading Pakistan University (Beaconhouse National University - BNU). Harris is a thinker in communication. This is critical in the world of short yet sharp attention spans. Harris is a specialist in solving this problem and his view is that relatability is the key. Connecting to the right audience and staying in their mind that ‘One Call’ will make their lives easier is the cornerstone of his visual communication strategy. (C4DI hope to engage Harris as a speaker soon to listen to his innovative ideas).
What makes ‘One Call’ so exciting is the impact it could make on the High Street and to local businesses. Because of the pandemic the High Street marketplace has been severely disrupted. Further to that there has been a drive to localisation, and this will continue because of ambitious carbon emission targets.
‘One Call’ addresses both these economic necessities using its technology.
The goal of ‘One Call’ is to support over one million businesses to grow and expand by the end of 2022.
The International team of C4DI look forward to working with the ‘One Call’ leadership team to deliver this exciting expansion.
C4DI has been developing international opportunities throughout 2020 and this relationship with ‘One Call’ has been long in discussion.