#5 - October 2022
Hey there! This is the fifth edition of i2i Insights, a newsletter where we bring you updates and important info about the Pakistani startup ecosystem.
October has, unfortunately, been a slower month for the ecosystem. Considering that Q4 is usually a period with plenty of investement, contributing to 30% of overall annual investement and second only to Q3 , the slowdown is a clear indicator of Pakistan following the pattern of a funding downturn happening globally.
This is not, however, an indicator of Pakistani startup potential dying down, but rather a reflection of macroeconomic conditions forcefully tightenting investor budgets. Our prediction is we'll hopefully see more deals as the quarter progresses, but for now the slowdown is real.
Onto the updates 👇🏾
💸 Dealflow Updates:
Remotebase raises 2.1 million USD in its pre-series round.
Founded in 2020, remotebase is a digital talent acquisition platform connecting its clients to developers from around the world. The round was led by Huistle Ventures and Indus Valley Capital with participation from Draper Associates, Angelventures, and Soma Capital.
Vegrow raises funding from DraperU.
Nayapay acquires Wali Ventures.
🧐Other Updates:
With successful editions held in Lahore and Islamabad earlier this year, the last leg of Katalyst Lab's +92 Disrupt 2022 conference was held in Karachi on 22 and 23 October. The conference which has been taking place since 2017 creates a space for entrepreneurs, investors, indusry leaders and just about anyone who is interested in the startup ecosystem to engage in dialogue and exhange ideas.
The Karachi edition hosted more than a 1000 people and 20+ panel discussions addressing a broad range of topics from agri-tech fin-tech, block-chain and the metaverse to climate change among many others.
📚What We’re Reading:
Ammar Habib Khan's article on Pakistan's dependences on hardcopy material.
Ryan Dawud's Substack on the way forward for tech startups.
Mutaher Khan and Natasha Uderani's article on Pakistan's khata apps.
Catch you next month!