BNP Paribas employee’s Pakistani edtech firm lands $2.1m in pre-seed round

Maqsad, a Pakistan-based edtech firm, has raised US$2.1 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Indus Valley Capital.

Photo credit: The Maqsad team

Investors like Alter Global and Fatima Gobi Ventures also participated in the financing round. The new funds will be used to ramp up hiring in the company, build its technology stack, and produce academic content.

Maqsad, which is Urdu for “purpose”, was founded by Taha Ahmed, a consultant at US-based LEK Consulting, and Rooshan Aziz, an associate at BNP Paribas. The platform provides localized academic content in a mix of English and Urdu to reach a wider section of school-going children. It also offers quizzes and other gamified features for students. 

“The best teachers tend to focus on niche segments, widening the educational gap [in Pakistan]. Regrettably, Pakistani children are less likely to go to school for each kilometer of distance between school and their homes – with girls being four times more affected,” the company said in a statement. 

See also: Edtech needs to do some soul-searching as it powers ahead

The company said it will launch its mobile app in the fourth quarter of 2021, and currently maintains a waitlist for early access. 

The fresh fundraise comes amid a surge in investment for startups based in Pakistan across sectors such as ecommerce, logistics, fintech, healthech, and edtech, among others. So far, 37 Pakistani startups have raised funding of US$228 million this year, up from US$77 million in 2020.

In April, Pakistan-based edtech firm Ekdasa raised US$320,000 in its pre-seed funding round led by i2i Ventures.