About GLOWSIMS
Built for Pakistani schools — by people who know them.
More than a decade of building one thing, for one kind of customer, in one country — and learning it deeply enough to be trusted with the whole school.
Where it started
It started with a simple observation.
Our founder, Shahbaz Akbar, was a software engineer in the United States when he looked closely at how schools back home were run — fees chased on paper, attendance in registers, results stitched together in Excel, parents left in the dark. The tools built abroad didn't fit: they didn't know local banks, Urdu, sibling-linked families, or the way a Pakistani school actually operates.
So he came back to build them.
In 2013 he founded the company in Gujrat, and in 2014 shipped the first product. As schools moved online, the platform was rebuilt for the cloud and became GLOWSIMS — one connected system for the whole school. Online fee collection followed, then mobile apps for parents, teachers, and owners. Today more than 1,200 schools run on GLOWSIMS, and the mission hasn't changed: give every school, from a single branch to a large network, software built for how they really work.
Our journey
Thirteen years, in order
A company that grew, got knocked down, and came back. The low point is left in — because the order carries the story.
The beginning
Codehex Solutions was founded in Gujrat — a small team with one conviction: schools in Pakistan deserved software built for how they actually work, not tools borrowed from somewhere else.
The first build
We shipped our first product, CodeSCHOOL — a desktop system, and our first proof that the idea held up outside our own heads.
First schools on board
CodeSCHOOL went live in 50 schools across three districts of Punjab — the first real classrooms running on our software.
Word spread
Fifty became 150, across six districts. Schools were recommending us to other schools — the surest sign we were solving something real.
GLOWSIMS is born
We rebuilt everything for the cloud and relaunched under a new name: GLOWSIMS. The new cloud platform reached 200 schools in 11 districts. The desktop era was behind us.
Standing behind the software
We opened a dedicated customer service centre — because software is only as good as the support behind it. 300 schools now ran on GLOWSIMS.
The fee breakthrough
We became one of the first in Pakistan to aggregate school fee bills for online payment, so parents could finally pay digitally, through every major bank. Our reach grew to 400 schools.
The year everything was tested
Then Covid came. Hundreds of schools closed; some we lost. Our count fell from 400 to 324 — the hardest stretch in our history. We had no mobile apps yet, so while the country stood still, our team built them. We got through for one reason: the people who refused to give up.
The comeback
As the country reopened, we hosted the first-ever School Leaders Conference in Punjab and launched Talib, our app for students. We crossed 600 schools, now present in 54 cities across Punjab — proof we hadn't just survived, we'd come back stronger.
Beyond Punjab
We opened an office in Karachi and, for the first time, brought whole franchise networks onto the platform — the PIPS School System alone added more than 50 campuses. We also began working with the Iqra University School System, and crossed 700 schools.
The growth year
Some of Pakistan's biggest education networks came on board, including Cambridge A-Level colleges. GLOWSIMS became known as the system behind leading institutions. We crossed 900 schools.
Meeting AI on our own terms
While everyone rushed to shout about AI, we studied it first — building a core team to understand how it could genuinely change education, and shaping our roadmap around it. The same year, we became KSESS's technology partner and ISN's title sponsor. We crossed 1,100 schools.
A better way to work
We changed how we operate. AI came into our customer support, onboarding became smoother for every new school, and new modules joined the platform — growth we could feel in the quality of the work, not just the count.
The biggest milestone yet
We launched a fintech division built for the education sector — and received a licence from the State Bank of Pakistan for RAAST P2M, becoming the only EdTech in Pakistan to earn RAAST approval. More than a decade in, present in 114 cities across Pakistan — still building for how schools here really work.
By the numbers
Where thirteen years leaves us
Payments
Licensed for RAAST by the State Bank of Pakistan
GLOWSIMS is the only school ERP in Pakistan licensed for RAAST directly by the State Bank — not through a third-party partner.
The idea, unchanged
One connected system, built for here
Local banks, Urdu support, sibling-linked family accounts, Matric and Cambridge on one platform, and the biometric devices you already own. Not generic software adapted after the fact.
The team
The people behind GLOWSIMS
A software engineer in the United States who came back to build the tools Pakistani schools didn't have.
Owns the platform, the infrastructure, and the uptime record behind it.
Runs the field teams across more than four cities.
On the ground
Across Pakistan
Our head office is in Phalia, and our teams work from more than four cities across Pakistan — so we're close to the schools we serve. The head-office address is on the Contact page.
- PhaliaHead office
- Lahore
- Karachi
- Gujrat