Pakistani startup raked in over $125 million in the first half of 2021, showing the growing confidence of investors in the country which is focusing on digitalization under the PTI government.
The figure is more than double what the new crop of Pakistani startups generated in the whole of 2020 when they raised $66 million
The E-commerce sector is at the top of the list with bagging over $42 million across 11 deals in the first half of the running year while the investment in 2020 recorded as $11.2 million.
According to Forbes Middles East, the startups raised $13.5 million in January this year. With Fintech-based projects remained in focus of the investors, total funding in February to April stood at $42.6 million.
Investors have poured more than $125 Million into Pakistani start-ups.
Here's why :https://t.co/nhAXaNwbgy pic.twitter.com/bau8l3zskf
— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) July 7, 2021
“Startup funding in May hit $24.6 million, with three of those four raises being Fintech startups. Then June had eight raises totaling $44.6 million,” read the post.
Jabberwock Ventures, Tajir, Educative, Dawaai and Sadapay remained most funded startup during this period.
Jabberwock Ventures, the parent company Cheetay, raised $20 million in April for its startups in logistics and food delivery, while TAG, a digital payments startup, bagged the largest pre-seed round ever in MENAP when it raised $5.5 million funding from international investors.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/creditbook-pakistani-fintech-startup-raises-1-5-million-in-seed-funding/
Storied Silicon Valley VC firm, Kleiner Perkins, made its first ever major investment in Pakistan by funding $17 million into B2B e-commerce platform, Taajir.
Grocerapp, which directly provide services to consumer, also secured $5.2m earlier in June.
The recently flurry of funding is different as it is almost exclusively raised from the local market. The appreciative response from investors implies surge in future investments.
A key to success of the startup is previous experience of the founders, showing that Pakistan has great potential to raise its economic ecosystem.
“We have been very excited to see the potential and energy of Pakistani founders and to have built one more bridge between Pakistan and the rest of the global startup ecosystem,” says Jeng Yang Chia, Principal at Saison Capital, the venture arm of Credit Saison told the international publication.
“Generally, we’ve backed founders who have seen or worked at great companies in the US and built products customized and optimized for the unique nature of the Pakistani market,” says David Greenbaum, Partner at Quiet Capital, which led TAG’s pre-seed round.
