Pakistani startups raised $10 million in H1 2020, witness 9pc decline: Report

Pakistani startups raised $10 million in H1 2020, witnessing a decline of nine percent from $11 million in 2019, revealed UAE based platform MAGNiTT in its latest report.

“Pakistan, with its strong ties to the region, existing history of technology and talent synergies, and expanding digital economy is an exciting and natural next step for us,” said Philip Bahoshy MAGNiTT CEO, in the company's latest report titled Pakistan Report - MAGNiTT beyond MENA borders.

“Pakistan is an exciting space, with key signals that its tech startup space is about to get much more exciting. In the last decade, investments in startups have seen continued growth, with a few notable exits and success stories resulting in an increased appetite from regional and international investors,” he said.

“As internet penetration increases and local tech clusters continue to develop, the market in Pakistan looks ever more promising launchpad for technologies that solve problems in big markets, like infrastructure and logistics, that are also felt in similar emerging markets. Cross-pollination in emerging markets is key to the success of developing emerging ecosystems, with the intellectual capital transfer at the core of this proposition,” added Bahoshy in the report.

When comparing the amount of funding raised to MENA countries in H1 2020, Pakistan ties with Jordan and ranks 4th, after the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, with $10M of investment;

The report said that Pakistan’s ecosystem is young, and is consistent with other nascent ecosystems, with E-Commerce taking the lion’s share of deals (41%) and funding (65%).

The report highlighted that the focus of investors is still at the early stages i.e. the top 5 deals in Pakistan-based startups represented 49pc of total funding, and all were Seed & Pre-Seed rounds.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, the overall number of deals increased by 13% to 17 deals from H1 2019, revealed the report.