Pakistan’s Indus Valley Capital hits first close for $15m debut fund

Lahore, Pakistan. Photo: Pixabay

By Kristie Neo

February 7, 2020

Indus Valley Capital is raising $15 million for its first Pakistan-focused fund, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Indus Valley Capital is a newly established venture capital (VC) firm investing in early-stage tech opportunities in Pakistan. It joins the ranks of Sarmayacar, i2i Ventures and Fatima Gobi Ventures, all of which are also newly-launched funds investing solely in the Pakistani market.

According to one source close to the development, Indus Valley has already hit the first close of this fund. The fund’s first close is understood to comprise over 50 per cent of its target corpus. It is also on track to secure its final close by March 2020.

Notable limited partners (LPs) include Pakistani software company Arbisoft, and Pakistani tech solutions firm VentureDive, which was responsible for writing some of the earliest codes for Uber-owned ride-hailing giant, Careem.

The fund is also backed by angel investors from Silicon Valley, New York, Singapore and Pakistan. Most of these angels are entrepreneurs, of whom at least three individuals have built companies to “unicorn” status. A unicorn is a technology startup valued at $1 billion and above.

Indus Valley Capital declined to comment on this story.

Indus Valley Capital is led and founded by Aatif Awan, a former senior executive at Linkedin and Microsoft in Silicon Valley. According to his Linkedin profile, Awan spent 7 years as Vice President for Growth, International Data and Products at Linkedin. Prior to that, he also spent close to 6 years as programme manager at Microsoft.

Indus Valley has already begun deploying capital, having made its first investment in local transportation startup, Airlift last year. Last November, Airlift raised $12 million in Series A funding, making it one of Pakistan’s largest venture-backed Series A rounds on record.

Airlift’s Series A was led by First Round Capital, a Silicon Valley-based VC firm and early investor in companies like Uber and Square. The round was also joined by Fatima Gobi Ventures and Singapore-based K2 Global.

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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW