The Lahore-based remote talent startup Remotebase has raised $1.4 million in a seed round led by Pakistan-focused VC Indus Valley Capital.
The venture capitalist closed its maiden fund with $17.5 million last week in Pakistan. Draper Associates (the VC firm of Tim Draper), the US-based early-stage VC Hustle Fund, and other investors also participated in the round.
According to the report, this is Draper Associates’ and Hustle Fund’s first investment in a Pakistani startup.
Remotebase began ten months ago in April 2020 as a startup that enables businesses based mainly in Silicon Valley to build remote engineering teams and can accomplish building such teams in as little as 24 hours.
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Founded by Qasim Asad Salam and Talha Masood, this startup also hires, trains, and places local software engineers in American startups.
Prior to launching Remotebase, Qasim ran a software agency in Pakistan, and Talha Masood — its co-founder and CTO — had been working remotely for companies in Silicon Valley for years.
The idea of this type of operations might not have become popular prior to the pandemic-related hike in remote work, but in the prevailing conditions, the growth of Remotebase has consistently been double-digits month-over-month.
It offers engineers a proposition for simple work from home for innovative startups in Silicon Valley for a fixed monthly salary and other benefits including health insurance.
The startup claims that the engineers that it hires are among the top five percent and that the remunerations that they receive are better than what they would usually get in the local market.
On the other hand, the startups that work with Remotebase get almost instant access to top engineers while saving considerably on the recruitment process. Remotebase charges them a fixed monthly fee for every engineer that the startup makes available for them.
“What’s very interesting is that many of our clients have told us that our engineers are the best resources they have on their teams and we’re talking about teams made up of top-notch engineering talent from all around the world,” stated Remotebase’s founder and CEO Qasim Asad Salam.
He said, “We’re consistently getting requests from new as well as our existing clients, and we hope to add hundreds of engineers within the next one year to our team,” adding that they have not lost any of its clients since they began operations.
Aatif Awan, the Managing Partner of Indus Valley Capital thinks that Remotebase will help the Pakistani tech ecosystem earn its well-deserved place in the world.
He said, “As tech companies go remote, Remotebase can help Pakistani talent fulfill this demand and gain experience with the best startups around the world. Over time, this will also materially increase the supply of experienced tech professionals in the country, benefiting all local companies. We’re thrilled about our mission alignment with Remotebase and are excited to back them”.
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The startup has been profitable since its first month so it does not really need the funds that it has raised. In addition to hiring engineers, Remotebase will use the fresh funds for various initiatives like hackathons and programs for women.
Engineers looking to work through (/for) Remotebase can apply here.