Gobi Ventures-backed Pakistani VC firm invests in 5 startups

Pakistani VC firm Fatima Gobi Ventures, formed by the Pakistan conglomerate Fatima Group and VC firm Gobi Partners, announced that its maiden fund Techxila Fund I has invested in five startups.

Gobi Partners managing director Jamaludin Bujang (left) and Fatima Ventures CEO Ali Mukhtar / Photo credit: Fatima Gobi Ventures

The companies operate in a variety of industries, from ecommerce and travel to fintech and logistics. All of them are driven to give Pakistani consumers and businesses a boost, the VC firm said in a statement.

The fund is set to invest in another 10 to 15 companies and is focused on making seed and series A investments in technology-enabled businesses in segments such as travel, logistics, fintech, healthcare, education, ecommerce, consumer tech, industrial internet, and TaqwaTech. TaqwaTech is the industry segment where startups offer products and services for the Muslim population.

Here are the five startups that the fund has invested in:

Tajir: Founded in 2019, it is a business-to-business marketplace that helps stores order inventory supplies and receive delivery services on demand. Manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors can directly sell their products to kirana stores via the platform.

SafePay: It is a fintech platform that enables online payments for business-to-customer and ecommerce platforms. It secured seed funding from Y Combinator.

Inventhub: It is a software-as-a-service startup in deep tech that enables inventors to bring their products to life and helps hardware companies optimize their collaboration processes. It’s backed by American venture capitalist Tim Draper.

Airlift: The logistics platform claims that it has raised Pakistan’s largest series A round of US$22 million, which was led by early Uber backer First Round Capital. Airlift started out by trying to solve daily commute problems with a mass transit system, but the company has since launched its ecommerce service to offer 45-minute delivery of household goods during the lockdown.

Sastaticket: It is an online travel agency launched in 2016. Although it was financially hit by the pandemic, the company claims that its number of bookings in October was 150% over its pre-Covid levels as Pakistan’s travel restrictions began to get lifted. It’s also on track to raise a growth round next year and aims to dominate 50% of the online travel market share in the country.

Fatima Gobi Ventures also announced the first close of Techxila Fund I, with over 70% of its targeted size raised so far.

The VC firm was rolled out in 2019 and aims to raise US$20 million. The fund is on track to complete the final close early next year, according to a statement.

Limited partners include former Amazon Middle East and North Africa regional finance director and Souq.com Group chief financial officer Asif Keshodia.