Pakistani Startups Hope For Revival Of Funding Rush After IMF Deal

Khurram Schehzad, ABC’s chief executive officer stated:

“This funding decline was aligned with the global deceleration coupled with the macroeconomic crisis at home. The rupee-dollar parity issue, sluggish industrial activities, and high inflations developed a context where investors chose to remain on the sidelines instead of putting their money in risky startup businesses.”

Reports further claim that the number of funding breakthroughs has primarily remained dormant during the second quarter of 2023. Major deals include Fintech startups such as GoldFin and Neem. In addition to that, smaller pre-seed and accelerator-level deals were knocked out by Apollo Group, Qist Bazaar, OkayKer, and Pattern App.

Pakistan has been wrestling with eroding economic conditions for a long time. It finally reached a staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF last month over a $3 billion bailout program which rejuvenated startup funding hopes. The current news of the IMF bailout is a welcoming slumber though, at least in the short term. Schehzad further stated that the recovery would be gradual since the IMF deal would improve investors’ confidence and help improve the liquidity situation in the market right now. Pakistani startup experts claim that startups operating in e-commerce, fintech health tech, agritech, and education have significant potential to attract funding from investors in the future.

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