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🎉 Happy New Year
41 Pakistani startups raised $346+ million in disclosed venture capital funding in 2022 across 42 deals.
Compared to 2021, the amount of funding increased by 2% from $340 million, but the number of deals declined by 22% from 54.
When I shared 2021 numbers last January, I had $345 million with 64 deals. But after talking to investors and others who rely on my funding tracker, I decided not to include rounds below $250k and startups not building for the Pakistani market going forward.
One reason is to avoid an inflated deal flow count, as many startups raise paltry accelerator rounds, never to raise a penny again.
But it wouldn't be fair to compare 2022 to 2021 without revising 2021 amounts.
Regardless, Pakistani startups raised slightly more money in 2022 than in 2021.
More coverage on startup funding from Tribune, Data Darbar, The News, i2i Insights, and DAWN.
If 2021 was the banner year for the ecosystem, then 2022 was the hangover year. I go into more details here.
🤝 Zayn Capital <> Techshaw
Together with Zayn Capital, Techshaw is creating a content series demystifying venture capital as it relates to the Pakistani market.
So far, we have published a primer on venture capital, an explainer on SAFE, metrics VCs look for before funding, and methods VCs use to value Pakistani startups.
📰 Learn
TAG founder Talal Ahmad Gondal sued by Taraec Hussein (Gobi Partners). HEC will grant up to $35,000 to 15 promising startups. Developing a Unicorn. Political uncertainty hits tech exports. Maersk opens a new logistics park. ABHI plans expansion into UAE. SWVL shuts down operations in Pakistan. Government cracks down on sketchy lending apps. No digital revolution in payments.
🧠 Think
Sustainable q-commerce. Zameen’s growth trajectory. Appistan: health, instant loans, and food delivery. Reimagining Pakistan as a tech economy. Faults in our committees. Pakistan: productivity, capital, and talent accumulation. Death by a thousand cuts. VC funding in 2023. Building Bazaar’s ML platform.
🎙️ Listen
misaal podcast: Conversation with Bushra Latif - founder at Nani.pk, Kalsoom Lakhani - GP at i2i Ventures, Jabraan Shahid - content creator, and Aman Nasir, Partner at Sarmayacar.
📺 Watch
misaal podcast: Conversation with Bushra Latif - founder at Nani.pk, Kalsoom Lakhani - GP at i2i Ventures, Jabraan Shahid - content creator, and Aman Nasir, Partner at Sarmayacar.
Systems Limited founders Syed Babar Ali and Aezaz Hussain talk about continuous reinvention, dedication, integrity, and employee ownership.
🚀 Startup I am excited about
Smartlane - Instant settlement and revenue-based financing for e-commerce orders.
Creations: A handy startup funding tracker and an interview-style podcast. Previous issues of this newsletter can be found here.
Until next month, ✌️