A Gender Lens on Pakistan's Startup Investment Landscape

From i2i Insights - Pakistan's startup ecosystem has rapidly developed in the past few years. Although currently experiencing an economic slowdown, the ecosystem’s stakeholders continue to demonstrate resilience and a forward-thinking approach.  

The funding boom of 2021 had a notable impact on narrowing the gender funding gap for female-founded and co-founded companies, as they were able to secure an impressive 34% of the total startup funding. This development marked a positive step towards addressing the persistent gender funding gap that the global and regional startup ecosystem has been struggling to overcome. However, the funding slowdown experienced in 2022 had a disproportionate impact on female-founded and co-founded companies. They raised only 8% of the total startup funding in Pakistan, and secured under 6% in the MENAP region. Globally, no significant change was observed, but the total funding amounted to only 19% of the total.