End of the funding freeze?

“Sometimes the government just needs to get out of the way,” says Misbah Naqvi, co-founder of invest2innovate (i2i) Ventures, at the launch of Pakistan Startup Ecosystem Report (PSER) 2024. Her sentiments have been echoed by similar successful sectors, maize and sports goods, to name a couple. Pakistani startups have only reported $37 million till November 2024, a far cry from the peak of $355m in 2022 when global investor attention was driving up valuations, states PSER 2024. However, the recent vibe of rooms full of startup founders and venture capitalists is largely bullish for business in 2025 as the macroeconomic fundamentals of Pakistan appear to be stable. The feel-good sentiment carried into +92Disrupt by Katylst Labs — a two day event that ended on Sunday. The third quarter injection of about $15m raised across four publicly disclosed deals may have also helped with general enthusiasm as the VC space gains traction after its downward trajectory. Gobi Partners has also launched a $50m Techxila Fund II after a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bank of Punjab.