The year 2021 has been a groundbreaking year for Pakistani startups as far as investments are concerned. In the first eight months of 2021, the country’s startups have received an investment of $258 million while last year, the total investment was $77 million.
It is expected that if these startups continue with this momentum, annual investments can reach billion dollars by 2025.
Speaking at the International Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship which had been organized by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), CEO Ignite, Asim Shahryar Hussain stated, “Over the last five years or more, government, academia, and industry have launched many incubators which have produced more than a thousand startups in different verticals.”
“Many of these startups are generating revenue and are ready for acceleration. When you have to lead VCs like Kleiner Perkins and 20 VCs investing in Pakistani startups, then it means that you are getting ready for the global stage. Pakistani startups are the next big thing and many are ready for acceleration and lift-off now.”
Ignite is a technology fund under the Ministry of IT & Telecom that is focused on funding and promoting technology innovation and entrepreneurship in Pakistan. Ignite is planning both horizontal and vertical expansion of its flagship National Incubation Centers (NICs) in future. Presently, Ignite has launched NICs in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta.
In the future, Ignite is also planning to launch incubators in Multan, Faislabad, Hyderabad, and other cities to unearth and give opportunities to talented individuals.
will be launching new incubators in Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Multan and other cities of Pakistan. Also, Ignite will launch specialized incubators in verticals such as gaming & animation, aerospace, health tech, etc for the incubation of startups in these areas.
Sectors which are attracting investment include ecommerce, transport/logistics, Fintech, Healthech, Retailtech, and Edtech. So far, 37 Pakistani startups have raised funding of $228 million this year. Six of them have raised more than $10 million dollars each including Airlift (ecommerce), Bazaar (retailtech), Cheetay (logistics), Tajir (retailtech), Educative (Edtech), and Finja (Fintech) in series A and series B funding this year. A shift towards series A and B funding by many startups shows that they are growing and planning national and international expansion of their operations.—PR
