Islamabad November 12 2023: Venture capital firm SOSV’s unit has backed five more startups in Pakistan as the number of internet users in the world’s fifth most populous nation rise.
The startups — Truckistan, BusCaro, Metamorph, Umrah Companions, and MedIQ Smart Healthcare — received $180,000 each with further allocations for follow-on investment from Orbit Startups, William Bao Bean, Managing Director of the firm said in an interview in Karachi. Orbit Startups is SOSV’s program for startups in emerging and frontier markets, information available on its website shows.
The South Asian nation’s startup economy had been experiencing a drought in funding, just like its global peers. However, Internet users have tripled in last six years to 130 million in Pakistan, luring investors like SOSV.
Orbit Startups see a huge investment opportunity in Pakistan’s software and internet consumer market, Bean said. Orbit’s total investments in 21 Pakistani startups amount to more than $5 million, and the venture capital firm has also helped them raise as much as $90 million from other investors, according to Bean.
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