#3 - August 2022
Hey there! This is the third edition of i2i Insights, a newsletter where we bring you updates and important info about the Pakistani startup ecosystem. There’s a lot to cover this month, so let’s dig in 🤩
P.s. This newsletter was authored by our Research Fellow Minahil (We 💚 you Minahil!)
Pakistani startups recently crossed $322M in funding, compared to the $350M they raised at the end of 2021. For a primer on where the market’s at right now (the good and the not-so-great), check out Kalsoom’s (GP i2i Ventures) thread 👇🏾
While we have your attention:
1/3 of Pakistan is under water. If you’d like to help out, here’s some places we recommend:
Karachi Relief Trust, which can receive donations via i-Care Fund America.
Rizq, which is more focused on Punjab & Balochistan, and is currently running a global LaunchGood campaign.
TCF, which is collecting funds to focus on the immediate needs of TCF school communities in Balochistan and Sindh.
📍 You Should Know:
Digital Ocean to acquire Cloudways for $350M.
Pakistan-founded Saas-based hosting service provider Cloudways is getting acquired by DigitalOcean. The two have worked together since 2014, with Cloudways utilizing DigitalOcean's infrastructure to serve around 50% of its customers. This marks Pakistan's biggest acquisition to date.
PostEx to acquire logistics service provider Call Courier.
PostEx functions as a fintech-logitstics hybrid, working to solve payment-related issues in e-commerce through upfront payment. The acquisition gives PostEX a customer base of 1.3 million users functioning in 500 Pakistani cities, self-described as the “largest e-commerce service provider in the country.”
Safepay gets pilot operations approval from the SBP.
This approval allows the YC-backed fintech startup to begin on-boarding customers and brings it a step closer to obtaining a full commercial license. The company has been actively partnering with financial institutions as well as other fintechs in the space, and last raised an undisclosed seed round led by Stripe in 2021.
💸 Dealflow Updates:
Pattern raises an undisclosed 6-figure amount in pre-seed funding.
Founded earlier in 2022, Pattern provides a marketing and ordering platform to restaraunts which allows them to make data-driven descisions in acquiring new customers and boosting customer loyalty. The round was led by Deosai Ventures with participation from Arbisoft, Sabr Capital, and WE& Capital.
OneLoad raises an $11 million series A round.
Founded in 2014, OneLoad is a fintech platform for retailers. The round was led by Sarmayacar and Shorooq Partners with participation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as Systems Limited. OneLoad’s application is used by several million customers on a monthly basis, and is the largest non-banking digital transaction platform in Pakistan, as reported by Bloomberg.
Remoty raises an undisclosed amount in angel investment.
Founded in 2020, Remoty is a SaaS platform allowing companies to optimize operations by automating the processes of tracking employee tasks, handling payrolls, and generating invoices. The round was led by Deosai Ventures with participation from Usman Butt as well as executives from Google and Deel.
InterApp raises $1.2 million in pre-seed investment.
Founded in 2016, InterApp is Pakistan's first augmented reality paltform. According to Dawn, InterApp enables “creators [to] turn their designs into NFTs and make them interactive with zero coding experience.” The investment was made by WP global partners.
OrbitEd raises $500,000 in pre-seed investment.
Founded in 2018, OrbitEd is an edtech platform that helps students learn through gaming. This round marks Boost VC’s debut investment in a Pakistani startup.
Mahaana Wealth raises $2.1 million in pre-seed investment.
Founded in 2021, YC-backed Mahaana Wealth operates as a non-banking finance company offering its own asset management products to its customers. The round saw participation from IGI Investment Bank, VEF, and SparkLabs.
PriceOye raises $7.9 million in seed investment.
Founded in 2020, PriceOye is a consumer electronics e-commerce platform. The funding round was led by JAM fund with participation from Paypal founder Peter Thiel, BeeNext, DG Daiwa, Mantis VC, HOF Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Artistic Ventures, Immad Akhund, and Ashif Keshodia. This marks Thiel's first investment in Pakistan.
🧐Other Updates:
Bykea launches car-hailing service, BykeaCar.
According to Dawn, the launch is primarily aimed at targeting audiences that would prefer to travel by car, as opposed to motorbikes or rickshaws. The service is currently operational in Islamabad.
Webx launches Webx Pay, in partnership with Paymob.
Webx is an e-commerce online store builder, which has partnered with Paymob for digital payment processing. The partnership enables online businesses in Pakistan to process payments on Webx-created and Webx Pay-enabled stores, as reported by TechShaw.
We’ll be back next month! In the meantime, questions/comments/feedback? Email or DM me.
Great update. For technically illiterate people like me is it possible to make the lingo more comprehensible. Great things are happening in Pakistan and I would like to share these news with ordinary folks. Thank you for your great work.