Pakistan’s startup funding rises to $36.6mn in 2025, still below peak levels

Pakistani startups observed a modest recovery in equity funding during 2025, with capital raised climbing to $36.6 million from $22.5 million a year earlier, reflecting an increase of nearly 63%.

However, despite the uptick, funding levels remain well below historical peaks, as shown by data released by Data Darbar.

“Based on press or social media announcements, startups raised approximately $36.6 million in equity capital across 10 rounds, while four additional transactions did not disclose dollar values,” read the report.

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Despite the yearly increase, the equity raised is far lower than the $347 million and $331 million raised in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

“While the increase marks a clear improvement in capital deployed, activity remains concentrated in a handful of larger rounds, indicating that the recovery is being driven more by ticket size than by broader participation,” said the tech information provider.

It shared that the average disclosed equity deal size stood at roughly $3.7 million.

Based on gender, female-led startups raised $8.8 million in disclosed equity funding, accounting for over 24% of total capital deployed.

“This is a marked deviation from long-term trends and represents a major improvement over 2024. However, like all numbers in the last two years, every minor change is amplified due to the low-base effect,” it said.

According to the report, the fintech sector dominated the startup scenario in Pakistan, both in terms of volume and capital raised. The sector was anchored by Haball’s Pre-Series A funding round, backed by Zayn VC and Meezan Bank, alongside Metric’s $1.3 million seed round led by an international syndicate.

Qist Bazaar raised $196,000 in debt as part of its Series A round from Bank Alfalah.

Meanwhile, health-tech emerged as the second most attractive sector, led by MediQ’s $6 million raised in  Series A funding. This “was among the largest disclosed equity raises of the year, followed by Xylexa’s $1 million seed round,” read the report.

Data Darbar shared that 2025 also saw two major trends: the continued rise of alternative capital and consolidation, citing Bazaar Technologies’ acquisition of Keenu highlighted an example of consolidation within fintech infrastructure.

Whereas Haball raised $47 million in debt financing from Meezan Bank.

These transactions “point to a gradual shift toward balance-sheet-led growth and platform integration,” it said.