2021 was a monumental year for the Pakistani startup ecosystem. A large number of startups raised multiple rounds in the year including the likes of Bazaar, Abhi, TAG, and many more helping the ecosystem raise 450 percent more than 2020.
Looking back at the past few years, 2018 was disappointing for the Pakistani ecosystem, with only seven startups managing to raise $5.7 million, the Pakistani startup ecosystem bounced back in 2019 and has not looked back since. However, in 2019, 14 startups, including Airlift, Tello Talk, Cheetay, Bykea, Eat Mubarak, and many more, managed to raise only $47 million.
In 2020, Pakistani startups including Trella, Jugnu, Walee, OPay, and many others closed $57.7 million across 41 deals. By the end of Q4 2020, this number reached $65M.
From 2015 up till 2021, the total amount raised by Pakistani startups across 255 deals reached $563.5 million, as reported by Invest2Innovate. 61% of this amount has been raised in the past year alone.
Finally, in 2021, insights shared by Invest2Innovate claim Pakistani Startups raised $19.26 million in 13 deals during Q1 and $81.73 million in 18 deals in Q2. Up until Q3, Pakistani startups raised $173 million across 17 deals, for a total of $273.9 million across 48 deals. By the end of the year, Pakistani startups raised $350 million across 81 deals, with $69 million raised across 22 deals.
Kalsoom Lakhani, General Partner i2i Ventures, shared important insights into funding raised by Pakistani startups in 2021 on Twitter. The highest performing sectors of the year were noted to be e-commerce, fintech, and logistics.
2/ Zooming into Q4 2021, startups raised $69M, less than what we did in Q3, but still more than all of 2021 combined. Bottom line: the funding landscape has shifted significantly w/ (1) startups raising significantly larger rounds at pre-seed & seed than before (2) startups/ pic.twitter.com/1cKDYTthZT
— Kalsoom Lakhani (@kalsoom82) January 3, 2022
The final amount raised by the end of the year 2021 by Pakistani startups was $365.87 million as reported by DAWN. Here’s a breakdown of the startups that raised the highest funds in 2021 with data from i2i’s Deal Flow Tracker and Techshaw Pulse:
Q1 2021
| No. | Name | Funding Type | Funding Amount ($) | Investors |
| 1 | SadaPay | Seed | 7,200,000 | Recharge Capital; Kingsway Capital; Raptor Group |
| 2 | Udhaar Book | Seed | 125,000 | Y-combinator |
| 3 | Sehat Kahani | Pre-series A | 1,000,000 | Islamic Development Bank; 10Pearls Ventures; Mentors Fund; Korean Impact Fund; Impact Investment Exchange |
| 4 | RemoteBase | Seed | 1,400,000 | Indus Valley Capital; Draper Associates; Hustle Fund |
| 5 | Dastgyr | Seed | 150,000 | SOSV |
| 6 | 24Seven.pk | Seed | 150,000 | SOSV |
| 7 | Fitoor | Seed | 15,000 | Bunyad |
| 8 | Vinncorp | Seed | 100,000 | HRSG |
| 9 | Rinstra Technologies | Series A | 2,000,000 | Undisclosed |
| 10 | Bazaar | Seed | 6,500,000 | Global Founders Capital; Indus Valley Capital; S7V; Wavemaker Partners; Derayah Venture Capital; Next Billion Ventures |
| 11 | Chkar Lodging | Seed | 300,000 | MFSYS |
| 12 | dTrade | Pre-seed | 885,000 | Polychain Capital; Pnyx Capital; Hypershare Ventures; Divergence Ventures; CMS Holdings; AU21 Capital |
| Total Amount | $19,825,000 | |||
Q2 2021
| No. | Name | Funding Type | Funding Amount ($) | Investors |
| 1 | Trivzia | Seed | 400,000 | 47 Ventures |
| 2 | Rare Sense | Seed | 400,000 | Undisclosed |
| 3 | Jugnu | Series A | 3,200,000 | Systems Limited |
| 4 | Grocer App | Series A | 5,200,000 | Hayaat Global; Millville Opportunities Fund; Wamda Capital; Jabbar Internet Group; Nama Ventures; Haitou Global; Lean Bricks; Walled City Co. |
| 5 | Dawaai | Series A | 8,500,000 | 500 Startups; Sarmaycaar |
| 6 | Abhi | Seed | 2,000,000 | Village Global; Sarmayacar; i2i Ventures; Zayn Capital |
| 7 | KTrade | Seed | 4,500,000 | TTB Partners; HOF Capital |
| 8 | TAG | Pre-Seed | 5,500,000 | Quiet Capital; Liberty City Ventures; Fatima Gobi Ventures; Unpopular Ventures; Visa |
| 9 | Tajir | Series A | 17,000,000 | Kleiner Perkins; Y Combinator Continuity Fund; AAVCF; Fatima Gobi Ventures; Flexport; Golden Gate Ventures; Liberty City Ventures; VentureSouq |
| 10 | dTrade | Seed | 6,400,000 | Three Arrows Capital; Polychain Capital; IOSG Ventures; Fenbushi Capital |
| 11 | Retailo | Seed | 6,700,000 | Shorooq Partners; Abercross Holdings; Arzan Venture Capital |
| 12 | CreditBook | Seed | 1,500,000 | BitRate VC; VentureSouq; Better Tomorrow Ventures; Ratio Ventures; Toy Ventures; Quiet Capital; i2i Ventures |
| 13 | Jabberwock (Cheetay) | Series B | 18,500,000 | Hummer Winblad Venture Partners; Doris Duke; Advent International |
| 14 | Truck It In | Pre-Seed | 1,500,000 | Global Founders Capital; Fatima Gobi Ventures; Deosai Ventures; BitRate Venture Capital; +92 Ventures |
| 15 | Edkasa | Pre-Seed | 320,000 | i2i Ventures; Walled City Co; Zayn Capital |
| 16 | Finja | Series A | 1,150,000 | HBL |
| 17 | HS360 | Seed | 38,000 | Syed Ahmed Masud |
| Total Amount | $82,808,000 | |||
Q3 2021
| No. | Name | Funding Type | Funding Amount ($) | Investors |
| 1 | QisstPay | Seed | 15,000 | MSA Capital; Global Founders Capital; Fox Ventures; First Check Ventures. |
| 2 | Oraan | Seed | 3,000 | Zayn Capital; Wavemaker Partners; Resolution Ventures; i2i Ventures; Hustle Fund; Haitou Global; Plug and Play; and angels like Claire Diaz-Orti |
| 3 | TAG | Seed | 12,000 | Liberty City Ventures; Canaan Partners; Addition LP; Mantis Venture Capital; Banana Capital; Co-founder of Plaid, William Hockey. |
| 4 | Maqsad | Pre-seed | 2,100,000 | Indus Valley Capital; Alter Global; Fatima Gobi Ventures |
| 5 | BridgeLinx | Seed | 10,000,000 | 20 VC; Buckley Ventures; Indus Valley Capital; Wavemaker Partners; Quiet Capital; TrueSight Ventures; Soma Capital; Flexport; Magnus Rausing’s UNTITLED |
| 6 | Ailaaj | Seed | 1,600,000 | JS Group; Fazal Din Group; Leonine Tech Ventures |
| 7 | Truck It In | Pre-Seed | 3,000,000 | Global Founders Capital; Fatima Gobi Ventures; Picus Capital; Zayn Capital |
| 8 | TAG | Seed | 125,000 | Y-combinator |
| 9 | Abhi | Seed | 125,000 | Y-combinator |
| 10 | Walee | Seed | 2,700,000 | Z2C |
| 11 | Bazaar | Series A | 30,000,000 | Defy Partners Management LLC; Wavemaker Partners LLC; Acrew Capital Management Co.; Japan’s Saison Capital; Zayn Capital Ltd.; Indus Valley Capital |
| 12 | Airlift | Series B | 85,000,000 |
20VC; Buckley Ventures Ltd.; Invest2Innovate; Sam Altman; Quiet Capital; Indus Valley Capital
|
| 13 | Marham | Seed | 1,000,000 | Indus Valley Capital |
| 14 | Dastgyr | Seed | 3,500,000 | ADB Ventures; Seedstars; Edgebrook Partners; Zayani Venture Capital; Tricap investment |
| 15 | Digikhata | Seed | 2,000,000 | MSA Capital; Shorooq Partners; +92 Ventures; SOSV |
| 16 | Trukkr | Seed | 600,000 | Anchorless; Kinnow VC |
| 17 | SmartChoice | Seed | 150,000 | SOSV; MOX |
| 18 | Swag Kicks | Seed | 150,000 | SOSV; MOX |
| 19 | Tasdeeq | Series A | 3,000,000 | The Pakistan Microfinance Network (PMN), Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA), 47 Ventures |
| 20 | Grandeur | Pre-Seed | 130,000 | Hustle Fund; Abbas Yousafzai; Walled City Co |
| 21 | Jugnu | Seed | 2,000,000 | Sarmayacar |
| 22 | DeafTawk | 250,000 | GSMA Innovation Fund | |
| Total Amount | $177,430,000 | |||
Q4 2021
| No. | Name | Funding Type | Funding Amount ($) | Investors |
| 1 | Tazah | Pre-Seed | 4,500,000 | Fatima Gobi Ventures; Vibe Capital; Shorooq Partners; Nuwa Capital; Ru-net; Alter Global; Julian.Capital; Kinnow Capital; Early Grey Capital; K3 Fund |
| 2 | Jiye | Pre-Seed | 2,500,000 | Sarmayacar; Access Bridge Ventures; Jabbar Internet Group; EquiTie; Seedstars |
| 3 | CreditBook | Pre-series A | 11,000,000 | Tiger Global; Better Tomorrow Ventures; firstminute Capital; Banana Capital; VentureSouq; Ratio Ventures; i2i Ventures |
| 4 | Krave Mart | Pre-seed | 6,000,000 | MSA Capital; Ru-Net; Global Founders Capital; Zayn Capital; Saison Capital’ +92Ventures; 2AM; Mehta Ventures; Jeddar Capital; Lakson Venture Capital |
| 5 | Bagallery | Series A | 4,500,000 | Zayn Capital; Hayaat Global; Lakson Venture Capital |
| 6 | Bookme.pk | Series A | 7,500,000 | Zayn Capital; Hayaat Global; BY Ventures; Lakson VC; Jabbar Internet Group; Millville Opportunities; Mentor’s Fund. |
| 7 | Clicky.pk | Pre-series A | 2,300,000 | Tricap Investments; CSHL |
| 8 | Lettus Kitchen | Seed | 250,000 | Multiple Angel Investors |
| 9 | PostEx | Seed | 7,100,000 | Global Founders Capital; FJ Labs; RTP Global; Alma Capital |
| 10 | Savyour | Seed | 3,300,000 | Fatima Gobi Ventures; Rally Cap Ventures; +92 Ventures; Suya Ventures |
| 11 | Udhaar Book | Seed | 6,000,000 | Fatima Gobi Ventures; Muir Capital; JAM Fund LLC; Integra Partners; Commerce Ventures LLC |
| 12 | Zarya | Pre-seed | 1,700,000 | Fatima Gobi Ventures; Class 5 Global, Global Founders Capital |
| 13 | Rider | Seed | 2,300,000 | Global Founders Capital; Fatima Gobi Ventures; Asian Development Bank |
| 14 | Munchies | Pre-seed | 2,500,000 | Unilever Pakistan; VentureDive |
| 15 | Tazah | Pre-seed | 2,000,000 | Ratio Ventures; Walled City Co; i2i Ventures; Suya Ventures; Globivest; Afropreneur Syndicate; +92 Ventures; Sunu Capital; Musha Investments; and other angel investors |
| 16 | Integry | Seed | 3 Million | Bonfire Ventures; Operator Collective; Basecamp Fund; Silicon Badia; Lead Pencil, and angel investors, including Dan Scheinman |
| 17 | PostEx | Seed | 1,500,000 | MSA Capital; Shorooq Partners; Zayn Capital; VentureSouq; PNO Ventures; 92Ventures |
| 18 | Healthwire | Series A | 3,300,000 | 47 Ventures; Habib Bank Limited; Dilsons Pvt. Ltd. |
| 19 | Scholar Den | Pre-Seed | 75,000 | Angel Investors |
| Total Amount | $71,325,000 | |||
