Small artisans in Pakistan face challenges that hinder their growth and sustainability. The main ones include exploitation by middlemen due to the lack of market information and resources to access better markets.
Aqeel Khalid always empathised with many talented men and women artisans in Pakistan that get exploited in the trading of their craft. This inspired him to start Vceela, a social enterprise that works to empower artisans across Pakistan by connecting the digitally illiterate and unconnected artisans directly to the local and international markets thus cutting out middlemen and enabling artisans to extract higher profits from their products. This is achieved through technology supported by Vceela’s ecosystem.
Vceela currently works with more than 50,000 artisans from 344 villages and cities across Pakistan with 81% of Vceela’s artisans being homebased women artisans that are now able to profitably sell their artisanal products worldwide.
With QCT’s support, Vceela will build, test, and launch Vceela’s innovative micro-incubation model. Through this model, Vceela will connect artists and designers to work together to create new, unique and export quality products.
