Pakistan's edtech startup Maqsad says it has raised $2.8mn in seed funding

Pakistan's edtech platform Maqsad announced on Thursday that it has raised $2.8 million in a seed funding round.

The seed round, which the company said was oversubscribed, was led by Speedinvest and returning investor Indus Valley Capital. It also saw the participation from Stellar Capital, Alter Global, Johann Jenson (SVP Product at GoStudent) and other strategic angels, said Maqsad in a statement.

Back in September 2021, the startup raised $2.1 million in a pre-seed round. After the latest funding, Maqsad’s total capital has reached $4.9 million.

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The edtech intends to utilise the latest funding to expand its subject offering and “supercharge the tech” behind the platform.

About Maqsad

Maqsad, founded by Taha Ahmed and Rooshan Aziz in 2021, is a mobile-only platform that delivers academic content and personalised learning to Pakistani students.

The edtech, while currently a purely B2C (Business to Customer) platform, envisions to embed itself across the education ecosystem. The company said that it has already received interest from private and public sector institutions for potential partnerships.

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“We’re laser-focused on delivering a personalized learning experience at scale and have a number of exciting AI-based initiatives in the pipeline,” Maqsad founders were quoted as saying.

The startup aims to capitalise on the country’s growing education sector, which “presents a substantial opportunity in Pakistan, with a forecasted annual spend of $37 billion by 2032”.

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Incoming investor Speedinvest, one of Europe's largest seed funds and already has an edtech unicorn in its portfolio, Vienna-based GoStudent, remains confident over the company’s potential.

“We invested in Maqsad because we see potential for it to touch the lives of millions of students and disrupt the education ecosystem,” said Philip Specht, partner at Speedinvest, who believes that “Maqsad is on track to be one of the most successful businesses in Pakistan”.

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Returning investor Indus Valley Capital’s founder Aatif Awan explained why they doubled down: “We first invested in Maqsad 18 months ago, before they had a product or a team.

“Investing again in Maqsad is a no-brainer as we have seen them [Rooshan and Taha] bring together one of the best startup teams in Pakistan to build a category-leading product that has helped over a million students.”