Dr. Umar Saif, the caretaker minister of IT & Telecom, and Science & Technology, enthusiastically announced, “Today, we launched the Pakistan Startup Fund (PSF), committing to invest up to Rs2 billion annually in Pakistani startups.” He emphasized that the PSF is strategically designed to assist startups in securing their initial external investments.
Dr. Saif highlighted that over $800 million has been invested in Pakistani startups in recent years, with some of them poised to become unicorns on their transformative journey. Asserting Pakistan’s potential, he stated, “Pakistan is the fifth-largest country globally, with smartphones in every household. There is no reason why we won’t have unicorns.”
In October of the previous year, Dr. Saif had disclosed the government’s plan to establish the ‘Pakistan Startup Fund’ during a conversation with Business Recorder at GITEX GLOBAL 2023. The funding for PSF is derived from IGNITE, funded by a portion of the federal government’s telecom receipts.
Explaining the unique structure of PSF, Dr. Saif outlined in a tweet, “If you are a startup in Pakistan and a foreign VC is evaluating your startup for a $1 million investment, the VC only needs to invest $700,000 — the Pakistan Startup Fund will give you a grant of $300,000 to help close the round.” Notably, PSF does not seek equity/shares or board positions, aiming to lower the risk for international investors in Pakistani startups.
Dr. Saif expressed ambitious goals, stating, “With PSF, we hope to create a value of at least Rs50 billion per year in the startup ecosystem in Pakistan.”