Pakistan's best startups with top Q1 results.

Byline: AHSAN NISAR

Pakistani startups raised $174 million in disclosed funding across 17 deals in the first quarter of 2022. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, it's an increase of 776% from $20 million. And, compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, it is an increase of 140% from $71 million. During the first three months of the year, Pakistani startups raised half of the total funding raised in 2021. It was also the best quarter for Pakistani startups ever. Previously, 18 deals totaling $172 million were recorded in Q3 of 2021. Some of the best startups that have raised funding during 2022 are:

Savyour was launched in August 2020 by brothers Umair and Saad Gadit. To date, it has raised $3.3 million in funding. Foodpanda, Pizza Hut, Daraz, etc., are some of the household brands it currently works with. Savyour is working with over 40 brands across five different categories to offer its in-store cashback program. In the near future, this will steadily increase.

DigiKhata is a Faisalabad-based Fintech startup that was founded in 2020 by Adnan Aslam and Bilal Anjum. Last year it raised $2 million in seed funding from MSA Capital, Shorooq Partners, SOSV, and +92 Ventures.

DigiKhata has partnered with PayFast to provide digital payment solutions to their customers. DigiKhata is a cloud-based bookkeeping and accounting app that helps small businesses manage their financial ledger. PayFast allows businesses to accept payments from their customers via various online payment methods. With this partnership, DigiKhata users will be able to accept payments through DigiCash.

DigiCash is DigiKhata's payment feature that allows businesses to accept Visa, MasterCard, UnionPay, PayPak, and bank accounts and mobile wallets. PayFast will power the underlying technology that will enable DigiCash to process payments. DigiKhata claims to have 2 million users with an estimated $1billion plus in ledger transactions recorded on the app. It faces competition from other well-funded startups in the digital ledger space like CreditBook, Bazaar's Easy Khata, and mKhata.

Zaraye, a Karachi-based B2B raw materials marketplace, raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding from Tiger Global, Zayn Capital, +92 Ventures, and multiple angel investors. Zaraye was founded in 2021 by Taha Iqbal Teli, Hashair Junaid Ahmedani, and Ahsan Ali Khan.

Approximately 20% of Pakistan's economy is derived from manufacturing, accounting for $35 billion in raw materials annually. Raw materials...

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