If you have got a startup idea and are looking for ways to fund your startup project, then there are different ways available by which you can get funds for a startup in Pakistan. There is no shortage of entrepreneurs in Pakistan who have brilliant ideas, be they fresh graduates, or young adults.
The problems in the way of entrepreneurs are many because the road to startup success isn’t secure and it is full of all sorts of obstacles. The biggest problem is gathering funds for a startup in Pakistan because getting seed capital in Pakistan is not easy, even though there has been an increase in startup funding in Pakistan. Many Pakistani speculators give up on the idea of starting a business because of a lack of financial resources. Staff from non-residential or international forums may also be a problem.
Entrepreneurship opportunities in Pakistan
Pakistan is a landlocked country located in the subcontinent. It has an extremely congested and competitive economic landscape, especially when compared to developed countries. However, this does not mean there are no opportunities for entrepreneurs in Pakistan. There are a number of ways for raising funds for a startup in Pakistan and making companies and new businesses popping up all the time, which provide fertile ground for budding business minds.
In addition, the government is encouraging entrepreneurship by providing a number of tax breaks and other incentives. In fact, starting a business in Pakistan is now easier than ever before thanks to online resources and support networks. So if you’re looking for an exciting opportunity to create something from nothing, then Pakistan may just be the place for you!
There are many types of business opportunities in Pakistan. These include:
- Businesses related to agriculture, such as crop farming, livestock production, poultry farming, aquaculture, etc.
- Businesses related to food processing, such as dairy products, meat, seafood, fruit juice, bakery, confectionery, etc.
- services-related businesses, such as IT services, consulting, legal services, accounting services, marketing services, etc.
- Manufacturing-related businesses, such as the manufacturing of clothing, furniture, electronics, machinery, etc.
- Construction-related businesses, such as building construction, home improvement, landscaping, etc.
How to raise capital: debt or equity?
Debt financing is usually used and supported to raise funds for startups in Pakistan that don’t have enough cash flow to pay salaries and cover other expenses. Equity financing is typically used by companies that already have some revenue coming in. Both types of financing require investors to take a risk. They must believe that the company will succeed and that they will see a return on their investment.
7 Ways Your Startup Can Raise Funding In Pakistan In 2022
For budding entrepreneurs who are looking for ways to raise funds for a startup in Pakistan for their promising businesses.
Innovative Pakistani solutions, such as food carts, ride-hailing services, and e-commerce businesses, have helped alleviate some of the country’s most difficult problems. As attitudes toward self-employment shift in Pakistan, a late-comer to the startup culture’s global trend, we’ve seen an increase in the number of people starting their own businesses over the past decade.
Entrepreneurs from all walks of life, including fresh graduates, non-resident Pakistanis, and former employees of multinational corporations, are capitalizing on Pakistan’s untapped market potential. To be sure, the road to startup success is littered with numerous obstacles, the most important of which is raising funds for a startup in Pakistan. Obtaining seed capital isn’t easy, despite the fact that startup funding in Pakistan has increased dramatically and there are numerous examples of successful startups.
As a guide to the various funding options currently available in Pakistan, we’ve compiled a list of the six most practical ways to raise funds for a startup in Pakistan. This will help the new emerging talent and entrepreneurs to rise and shine and help the country’s economy.
Also Read : Top 10 Most Profitable Startup Ideas In Pakistan For Overseas in 2022?
1-Bootstrapping your startup business
Bootstrapping means starting a company without any outside investment. It is a great option if you want to start a new business venture but don’t have the money to invest. Bootstrapping is often done by people with strong entrepreneurial skills. You need to know how to manage a small budget and make sure every dollar counts.
There are several benefits associated with bootstrapping.
- You won’t have to worry about raising funds from investors.
- You won’t have to spend time finding potential customers.
- You will have complete control over the direction of your business.
- You will avoid paying high-interest rates on loans.
And finally, you will learn how to run a successful business.
2-Crowd funding as A Funding Option:
Crowd funding has grown in popularity in recent years as a means of raising funds for a startup in Pakistan. It allows people to pool together small amounts of money from friends, family, and strangers online to invest in projects they believe in.
Funding options: Startups can choose between two types of funding: Debt- and Equity-financing
Debt financing is when someone borrows money from a bank or another person. It is usually cheaper than equity financing. However, the investor doesn’t receive as much ownership of the company. In contrast, equity financing gives the investor more say in the company.
Equity financing: This type of financing requires the entrepreneur to sell shares of stock to investors. The amount of money raised depends on the number of shares sold. Investors are given voting rights so they can influence decisions made at board meetings.
When choosing between debt and equity financing, consider the following factors:
- Your business plan: Are you confident that you will be able to generate enough income to repay the loan?
- Financing costs: How much does it cost to obtain the loan? Is it expensive? Will you have to pay extra fees?
- Risk: What is the chance that the company will fail?
- Return on investment (ROI): How long will it take to recoup the initial investment?
- Liquidity: Can you easily convert the loan back into cash?
- Legal requirements: Do you need to register your company before obtaining the loan?
- Reputation: Does the lender have a good reputation?
- Credit rating: Will you qualify for a higher credit limit?
- Business experience: Have you worked in similar businesses before?
- Experience with the industry: Do you have previous experience working in this field?
3-Get Angel Investment in Your Startup
Getting angel investment is one of the most important steps toward starting a business. It helps you raise funds for a startup in Pakistan from people who are willing to invest in your company at an early stage. This gives you the opportunity to build a strong team, hire great talent, and grow your business quickly.
Angel investing is also known as “seed-stage investing”. Seed-stage investing refers to investments made during the first few months after a startup launches its product or service. These investments help companies develop their products and services. They also provide them with the necessary resources to scale up.
4-Get Venture Capital for Your Business
In Pakistan, venture capitalists are only interested in investing in companies that have already proven their worth. This means that if you want to raise funds for a startup in Pakistan from VCs, you will need to show them some kind of proof that your business has potential.
Venture capitalists are often referred to as “investors”. They look for promising new ventures and offer financial support to those companies that meet their criteria. They may offer loans or grants to startups. They may also buy stakes in the companies they invest in.
Venture capitalists are typically involved in three stages of business development: pre-revenue, revenue growth, and post-revenue.
- Pre-revenue: this means that the company hasn’t yet begun generating any revenue.
- Revenue growth means that the company has started making sales but still needs additional funding to continue growing.
- Post-revenue means that a company is generating significant amounts of revenue.
If you want to raise funds for a startup in Pakistan through venture capital, you should focus on raising money from a single investor. You should avoid raising money from multiple investors at once.
Raising money from multiple sources at once makes it difficult to manage each source individually. This could lead to issues such as miscommunication between investors and delays in receiving payment.
5-Get Funding From Business Incubators & Accelerators
In addition to angel investors, venture capitalists, and private equity firms, business incubators and accelerators provide another source of financing for startups. These organizations offer financial assistance, mentoring, networking opportunities, access to experts, and training. Some incubators charge fees, but others don’t.
6-Raising Money through Bank Loans
Getting a loan from a bank is also an option through which you can get funds for a startup in Pakistan. In Pakistan, many banking institutions provide loans to entrepreneurs who have promising business ideas.
7-Pakistan Govt Programs That Offer Startup Capital
In addition to government programs, there are private organizations that offer startup grants and loans. These include the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), and the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan (EXIM).
There are several other programs offered by these organizations. For example, the NBP offers its own program called the “Startup Fund.” It provides up to $1 million to help businesses develop innovative products and services.
Top List of Pakistani Startups that raised Funding to grow their startups
A total of $345 million was invested in Pakistani startups by venture capital firms in 2021. Startups in Pakistan had a great year in 2013. Over $345 million in startup funding was raised through 64 transactions involving 53 startups. More money has been given out than in the previous eight years put together. We will list down some of the best funds for a startups in Pakistan that have raised investments from investors. These startups were selected based on their growth potential, product-market fit, and traction.
Here is a list of the top 12 Pakistani startups that raised investment.
1-Dawaai.pk
This latest round of funding for Dawaai, an online pharmacy startup, brings its total funding to $10.5 million. According to MENAbytes, equity makes up a large portion of the funding.
The startup was founded in early 2014 and sells medicine, personal care products, and medical equipment to individuals and pharmacies across the country via its website and mobile app.
Dawaai solves the problem of counterfeit products in the market by working directly with pharmaceutical companies. In order to get medicine delivered to your door, customers can either upload their prescription or enter it manually into the cart. To complete an order for prescription medications, the customer must upload a copy of their current prescription. It happened by getting funds for a startup in Pakistan.
2-Bazaar
Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global led a $70 million Series B round of funding for Bazaar, an e-commerce and fintech startup focused on B2B transactions. Existing investors such as Indus Valley Capital, and Defy. vc, and Ancrew invested $30 million in Series A of Bazaar along with Wavemaker Partners, B&Y, and Zayn Capital. Bazaar is one of Pakistan’s best-funded startups, with total funding of over $100 million.
The startup is developing a retail operating system. An e-commerce platform, a software product called Easy Khata, and a short-term working capital financing product known as Bazaar Credit are all offered by the company. Twenty-one Pakistani cities are currently served by the marketplace, and an additional three to four are added each month.
Also Read : Which Are The Most Successful and highly Funded Fintech Startups In Pakistan 2022?
3-Krave Mart
The firm has raised $6 million in pre-seed capital from some of Pakistan’s most well-known investors, including those who have previously invested in startups such as Delivery Hero, Gorillas, Meituan, Rabbit, Kitopi, and Zeptos.
The startup’s goal is to deliver high-quality products in under 10 minutes, saving individuals time and energy while grocery shopping. Quick Commerce, they believe, will change the way Pakistani shoppers purchase groceries.
4.Educative
Educative is a hands-on skill development platform for software developers and their employers. It raises funds for a startup in Pakistan for the Series A round totaled $12 million, which was announced just recently. A new and returning investor, Trilogy Equity Partners, joined Matrix Partners in leading the round. Participants included Kevin Mahaffey, the founder of Lookout.com; Immad Akhund of Mercury.com, and Ilya Volodarsky, the founder of Segment.
In addition to the more than 550,000 developers who use Exudative’s platform on a monthly basis, the free database also attracts 1.5 million monthly readers interested in learning more about development. As a result of this investment, Educative will be able to expand its B2B business, where companies like LinkedIn, Samsung, and VMware use the company’s proprietary technology to hire new engineers, improve the skills of their current ones, and train their engineering managers. More than 200 new employees will be added to the company’s workforce in order to meet the demands of its expanding global clientele.
5.Airlift
The largest funding round ever for a Pakistani startup, $85 million, has been raised by Airlift. Including high-profile investors, the round has been dubbed the largest in the Middle East and North Africa region.
As a mass transit start-up in 2019, Airlift had to cease operations in March 2020 because of COVID-19. In response, the business launched a 30-minute grocery delivery service, which is now available in eight Pakistani cities. From its network of multiple fulfilment centers across the cities in which Airlift operates, it can also deliver fresh produce, OTC, prescription medicines, and sports goods.
6.SadaPay
Sadapay received a seed round of $7.2 million from Recharge Capital, a New York-based venture capital firm. A Pakistani startup has raised the largest seed round in Pakistani startup history. In addition to Pierpaolo Barbieri, Brian McGrath of Ribbit Capital and Ilan Stern, a former partner of General Catalyst, and Andrew Wang, the founder of Valon Technologies, are all taking part in this round as notable fintech angels.
SadaPay’s goal is to establish Pakistan’s first “neobank” by offering a digital wallet and debit card. Over 200,000 people have signed up for the company’s mobile wallet waitlist, which is currently in private beta. Prior to launching the private beta, the central bank gave its in-principle approval. During the pilot phase, Sadapay is only allowed to serve up to 1,000 people. This was made up to a point by raised funds for a startup in Pakistan.
7.QisstPay
There has been $15 million in seed and pre-seed funding for QisstPay. Other investors participating in the round included Fox Ventures, First Check Ventures, and Scalapay co-creators Simone Mancini (left) and Johnny Mitrevski (right), along with MSA Capital (center).
It was founded in November 2020 to address a fundamental issue for consumers in emerging market economies. Credit card and consumer financing facilities that are common in developed countries are not available in many developing countries. This has an effect on both their leisure and luxury spending as well as their daily needs.
8.BridgeLinx
BridgeLinx, a digital freight marketplace, raised $10 million in the largest seed round in the country. 20 VC, Buckley Ventures and Indus Valley Capital were the primary investors in the round.
BridgeLinx, a freight transportation marketplace founded in 2020, connects businesses with carriers (truckers, owner-operators, transporters, and private fleets) through an online marketplace. There are a number of Pakistan’s largest shippers who use the startup, which claims to have boarded thousands of carriers.
9.CreditBook
In a seed round of $1.5 million, Karachi-based fintech CreditBook received funding. Pakistan’s BitRate VC and Dubai-based VentureSouq led the investment round, which was made up of a mix of local and international investors. Better Tomorrow Ventures, Ratio Ventures, and Toy Ventures made their first investments in Pakistan in the round. Investors such as the founders of Indonesia’s BukuWarung and Colombia’s Rappi, as well as Quiet Capital and i2i Ventures, participated in the deal.
In Pakistan, CreditBook wants to help small businesses digitize their operations. Their first product is a digital ledger app for small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs). Credit Book’s mobile app, which was released in June of this year, already has over 500,000 downloads on the Google Play Store, representing a growth of 450% in the preceding six months. .
10.Bookme.pk
The leading e-ticketing platform in Pakistan, with more than 4.6 million registered users in the transportation and entertainment industries, has raised approximately $7.5 million in a Series a funding round. Seed investors Lakson VC and Hayat Global, both based in the United Arab Emirates, joined Zayn Capital, as did BY Ventures and Jabbar Internet Group from the Middle East, Millville Opportunities from the New York area, and Mentor’s Fund from the Silicon Valley.
Customers can book with a simple click of a button thanks to the fully integrated platform. Intercity transportation, domestic and international airlines, hotels, and entertainment venues are all served by their plug-and-play distribution system.
Also Read : Top 10 Most Profitable Startup Ideas In Pakistan For Overseas in 2022?
Conclusion
Pakistan is going high on new businesses and the people of Pakistan are eager to go on new endeavors that led them to a high success rate. The only hurdles that entrepreneurs of Pakistan face are the low budget of their investments and hurdles in getting a loan to start up their business. But it is not a problem now as there are many ways to raise funds for a startup in Pakistan.
To go with the right financial techniques is the other way to get back what you invested in your new business with a bunch of profits so you can increase your investments to other ventures you have planned, without facing many hurdles on the way to your fly high adventure in the world of business. Taking initiative is the first step to completing the process and for those getting funds for a startup in Pakistan is where you need to start.
