NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Monday, January 28, 2019

By Zubair Naeem Paracha

A Pakistani tech publication published an article recently, claiming that Pakistani startups raised $341 million in 2018. This article was shared by many in the Pakistani startup ecosystem.

The article was perhaps seen as an acknowledgment of the fact that the technological ecosystem in Pakistan has come a long way and is finally attracting venture capital (VC) money. This might very well be true. But the claim that Pakistani startups raised over $300 million last year is a stretch.

For any such report, it is very important to first define a few basics and focus on their respective methodologies. These basics include: the definition of a startup, the definition of a Pakistani startup, and what exactly constitutes as investment.