#7 - Q4 2022 Roundup
This is the seventh edition of i2i Insights, where we bring you updates about the Pakistani startup ecosystem. Since December marks the end of Q4, we’ll be jumping right into our Q4 Dealflow Roundup.
🫣 Where we’re at:
The startup ecosystem is impacted by external factors and perhaps this year more than ever, contextualising the macroeconomic picture is really important. So let’s jump right in!
Mirroring the climbing global inflation numbers, in November 2022, Pakistan’s YoY inflation reached 23.84%, ranking us the 19th highest in the world. Coupled with this, since last year, the SBP’s reserves have rapidly depleted with a decline of USD 11.6bn. The current reserves are reportedly around USD 6.1 bn (due to external debt repayment) i.e. close to hitting a nine year low, and which are only barely enough to cover a month’s worth of imports (Phew, quite a mouthful!)
All of this has been against the backdrop of the country still recovering from the devastating impact of the 2022 floods, which continue to affect 20 million people across the country. As estimated by The World Bank, loss as a direct impact of the floods is projected to be approximately 2.2 % of the FY22 GDP.
The last few months have seen a lot happen, so let’s dig in to see where the Pakistani startup ecosystem is now.
📌 Q4 Roundup:
In Q4, Pakistani startups raised $14.9 million across 6 deals, bringing the total to $355 million across 57 deals YTD.
Q4 Amount Raised was down 77% from Q3 2022, and down 91% from Q1 2022. Q4 of 2022 saw a 79% reduction compared to Q4 last year.
The reported deals this quarter were:
In October, Remotebase raised $2.1 million dollars in a pre-series A round.
In November, BusCaro raised $0.5 million in an angel round, Waada raised 1.3 million dollars in a seed round, and Finja raised $10 million in a series A round.
Finally in December Eat Food Pakistan raised $1 million in seed funding and Valeem raised an unknown amount in pre-seed funding.
The three highest funded sectors were:
Fintech/Finance ($ 10 million)
Software Development ($ 2.1 million)
Insurance/Insurtech ($ 1.3 million)
In terms of gender, male founded startups raised 14.4 million across 5 deals while a female founded startup (BusCaro) raised $500k across a single deal. There were no female co-founded companies who announced any funding in Q4.
Overall, a lot more money was flowing in this time last year. It is safe to say there has been a remarkable slowdown in deal flow as the year has progressed due to various regional and global disruptions which will be covered in our end of year roundup dropping on the 2nd of January 2023.
👀 December Updates:
🧐 You Should Know 1/3
ABHI plans expansion into UAE market
Fin-tech startup Abhi has announced its plans to expand into the UAE through partnership with Hub71 i.e. Abu Dhabi’s global tech ecosystem.
🧐 You Should Know 2/3
SBP grants Akhtar Fuiou Technologies (AFT) approval to pilot their EMI license
AFT is a joint venture between Pakistan’s Akhtar Group, Chinese fintech company Fuiou Technologies and Chinese eCommerce platform JollyChic. Following the approval from the central bank, AFT will commence pilot operations for its agriculture focused fintech brand Digitt+ to digitize agricultural payments and distribution of credit products from licensed lenders to farmers.
🧐 You Should Know 3/3
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has granted fin-tech startup Neem a Non-Banking Financing Company (NBFC) license. With this license, Neem aims to strengthen Pakistan’s lending landscape through their embedded solutions.
Read Neem’s Linkedin Post here
🧐Other Updates:
SECP registers seven new private funds in 2022
📚What We’re Reading:
Remembering the startups we lost in 2022 | TechCrunch
Thanks for these amazing insights, great job i2i 👏
Amazing insights stats; Can you also share a section of the Pakistani Startups in 2024-25
https://bmaspace.com