ISLAMABAD: Abdul Razak Dawood, adviser for commerce and investment to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, said on Monday the country’s startups had set a record by raising $305 million during January and September 2021.
Pakistan’s startup ecosystem has received a major boost this year, with local firms getting over $228 million in investment just in the first eight months of 2021, compared to $77 million in 2020, according to Ignite, a Pakistani government-owned non-profit company.
A group of young startups have made splashy funding announcements in recent weeks.
Quick-commerce startup Airlift unveiled a record $85 million Series B round last month, followed by business-to-business (B2B) venture Bazaar’s record $30 million Series A round. Last month, Tag, a one-year-old Pakistani startup that offers banking and financial services, raised over $12 million in what is now the largest seed financing round in Pakistan, and Oraan raised $3 million in the largest seed funding closed by a women-led startup in the country.
“I am very pleased to see that during the period Jan-Sep 2021, Pakistani startups raised a record USD 305 million of investment globally. The sectors include e-commerce, fintech, health and freight,” Dawood said on Twitter.
I am very pleased to see that during the period Jan-Sep 2021, startups raised a record USD 305 million of investment globally. The sectors include e-commerce, fintech, health and freight.
— Abdul Razak Dawood (@razak_dawood) October 4, 2021
“As we are move forward, I urge our startups to look into the agriculture sector which has a lot of potential,” the adviser said, challenging Pakistani startups to touch $1 billion in investment by the end of the year.
