Pakistani freelancers post record $197 million month in September
IT freelancers brought in about $197 million in a single month, the most on record, lifting first quarter earnings to $550 million.
The Frontier Edit editors
The editorial team reports from public filings, company announcements, interviews given to other outlets and the press. Every figure in a story is attributed to its source, and corrections are noted on the story.
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IT ministry plans to back 20 women led startups a year through WISE Lab
The proposed Women Innovation and Startup Empowerment Lab would also train 200 female micro entrepreneurs every year in digital tools.
Daraz courts sellers and brands at two summits ahead of 11.11
The marketplace brought more than 1,200 merchants and brand representatives together in Karachi and Lahore. It was its first seller summit in three years.
Five NIC Lahore startups join Plug and Play's Silicon Valley fall batch
Entropy & Co., Heyeve, Hsieh AI, Recruit AI and elevAID will spend three months in the accelerator, backed by Ignite funding of Rs5 million each.
ModulusTech and the house that fits on a truck
Three NED graduates set out to shelter refugees with a flat pack home. The customers who actually paid were schools, farms, a clinic and, eventually, a net zero neighbourhood in Karachi.
Saraaf wants to be the exchange for Central Asia's stone, cotton and ore
A Karachi onyx exporter is trying to become a sourcing platform for the whole region. Television gave it a record valuation. Delivering the money, and the app, has proved harder.
FIA traces Rs120 billion in suspected gambling payments through shell firms
JazzCash has closed or suspended more than 100 aggregator accounts as investigators examine how single member companies moved money through wallets and banks.
Retailo raised $60 million to sell to corner shops in three countries. It kept one
Three Careem alumni launched a B2B marketplace in Karachi in 2020, raised faster than any Saudi seed before it, and by 2023 had pulled back to Riyadh.
Freelancers association and HBL sign deal on banking services
The Pakistan Freelancers Association and Habib Bank Limited will work on foreign currency accounts, payment tools and financial literacy for freelancers.
Solar Pakistan 2026 opens in Karachi with more than 350 companies
The three day exhibition at the Expo Centre brings firms from 15 countries together to show solar, storage and smart grid technology.
TPL Insurance becomes JazzSure as Jazz builds its insurance arm
Three months after Jazz took a 76.33 percent stake, the listed insurer has a new name and a role as underwriter for JazzCash and FikrFree.
KissanPay launches loans against stored crops for farmers
Kissan Gudam and aik by BankIslami have launched a Shariah compliant agri fintech platform that lets farmers borrow against commodities held in storage.
How BridgeLinx raised Pakistan's biggest seed round in nine months, and what came after
Four founders, a cement factory's trucking problem and a $10 million cheque co led by 20VC. Five years on, the company is still private, still in Lahore and much quieter.
Pakistani firms win 11 awards at ASOCIO digital and AI event in Jakarta
Winners range from a provincial IT board to AI companies in health, farming and finance, in a delegation led by the software houses association P@SHA.
Infino, cofounded by Pakistani origin veteran Asif Makhani, raises $7.5 million
Bessemer Venture Partners led the seed round for a startup that wants to replace several data tools with one retrieval layer for AI agents.
Pakistani American cofounder's AI agent Tab leaves stealth at $300 million valuation
The San Francisco startup runs an assistant inside iMessage and WhatsApp. It has not said how much it raised.
Pakistani startups raised $74.7 million in Q3, but one deal made 91 percent
i2i Ventures counts five deals in the quarter, led by Fasset's $68 million Series C. Without it, startups raised about $6.7 million.
Karachi proptech Fortify registers a company in Saudi Arabia
The Karachi startup, which sells software to property firms, has a Saudi investment licence and a local entity. It now plans to hire in Riyadh.
How Trukkr went from matching trucks to lending to them
A Karachi marketplace for freight found that its customers' real shortage was working capital, raised $6.4 million, and got a licence to fix it.
SBP opens second regulatory sandbox cohort for AI and payments startups
The State Bank of Pakistan is taking applications until 30 November from firms that want to test financial products under supervision.
KalPay: the Pakistani lender that chose profit before scale
A Shariah aligned buy now pay later service launched into a cash economy just as borrowing costs soared. It survived by raising little, working with merchants and lending for school fees.
Local phone assembly falls 14 percent in August as 5G output drops
Pakistani plants made 1.66 million handsets in August, and local makers still met 95 percent of demand. 5G handset output fell sharply from a year earlier.
Linkstar gave Pakistan's freelancers a free website, then bought a Dubai jobs board
Three childhood friends from Karachi raised SOSV money on a subscription pitch, claimed 50,000 users and acquired Oliv. By 2025 the original platform appears to have closed.
NCERT tells provincial and sector CERTs to link their security centres to national hub
Pakistan's national cyber response team wants every provincial and sectoral CERT connected to the National Security Operations Centre, with a nominated contact in seven working days.
Epic Angels backs Oraan to take its gold committees abroad
The women only investment collective led an undisclosed round, with Wavemaker and i2i Ventures returning, as Oraan said it would license its platform to a regional bank.
NetSol reports record $74.4 million revenue and guides to 13 to 16 percent growth
The Nasdaq listed software firm with its main operations in Lahore made a full year profit and said it is shifting towards recurring platform revenue.
Standard Chartered awards Rs10.5 million to three women led startups
EV Square, Blusha App and Zvolta won equity free grants as the eighth Women in Tech Accelerator for Pakistan closed with a ceremony in Karachi.
Brazilian payments firm Ebanx plans to launch in Pakistan in 2027
Ebanx will connect merchants to JazzCash and Easypaisa first, then to the Raast instant payment system, as it adds Pakistan to its list of emerging markets.
Byonyks wins Pakistan final of Startup World Cup, earns San Francisco slot
The Lahore founded dialysis technology company beat eight other finalists at LUMS and will now pitch in Silicon Valley for a $1 million investment prize.
Two Nishat Group firms sign solar and battery storage deals worth 45MW
Nishat Mills and D.G. Khan Cement told the stock exchange they will add solar plants and batteries, due to start generating in March 2027.
Plouton AI founders named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026
Habib University graduates Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai and Sarfraz Shahid Hussain are among seven Pakistanis on this year's list.
How a Karachi workshop found buyers for a two thousand dollar bionic arm
Bioniks has no venture round to its name. It grew on sales, donors, government orders and prizes, and in 2026 it is leaning on an oil company to reach patients who cannot pay.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pledges Rs50 million fund for women entrepreneurs
The provincial government will set up an endowment fund and a Women Incubation Center after a visit to the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Peshawar.
PTA gives mobile operators until October to fix coverage in the twin cities
The regulator told operators to close gaps in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and warned of penalties. A month later it reported a nationwide monitoring drive.
Goods transporters announce another 7 per cent freight rate hike
The All Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance blames fuel costs for the increase, which freight platforms and shippers will have to absorb or pass on.
Quantum Valley Pakistan launches in Islamabad with Plug and Play and CIC
The government backed platform links universities, startups and investors, and promises accelerator places for 300 student startups.
Maheera Ghani makes Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026 for science and outreach
The Cambridge postdoctoral researcher and WinSci Pakistan cofounder was listed in the Healthcare and Science category, one of seven Pakistanis on this year's list.
ABHI launches early salary access in Saudi Arabia with QBS
The Pakistani fintech's Saudi unit, powered by Alraedah Digital Solutions, signed its first employer partner in Riyadh.
SECP proposes looser REIT rules, including investment in vacant land
The regulator's draft amendments would let investment based REITs hold plots and cut the real estate threshold to 65 per cent. They are open for public comment.
The khata app that became a lender
CreditBook gave Pakistan's shopkeepers a free digital ledger, raised $12.5 million in a year, and then spent the next four turning the data into loans.
Bioniks and PSO launch programme to fit prosthetic limbs for the underprivileged
More than 100 people have already received arms and legs through the oil company's CSR Trust, chief executive Anas Niaz said at the launch in Karachi.
Plouton AI and the second act of a Karachi fintech pair
Two Habib University graduates spent four years trying to get young Pakistanis to buy mutual funds. Now they sell finance teams a robot that works the browser for them.
inDrive sees room to grow as only 5 per cent of Pakistanis use ride hailing
At a panel in Islamabad, the company's country manager said adoption trails the global level of about 20 per cent and talked of ride pooling and digital payments.
Aga Khan network's Accelerate Prosperity backs KalPay
The Lahore buy now pay later fintech takes an undisclosed investment to extend Shariah compliant financing for education and essential assets.
Metal, a Pakistani AI startup for fundraising, raises $4.5 million seed round
The company, founded by a former Airlift chief executive, says its software helps founders raise capital. a16z speedrun and Y Combinator led the round.
EduFi joins 500 Global's Sanabil accelerator in Riyadh
The Pakistani student lender was one of nine startups picked from more than 735 applicants for Batch 10, which EduFi describes as a seed round backed by 500 Global.
Edversity takes investment from Rapidev Group at LEAP 2026 in Riyadh
The Pakistani tech skills company will join the Rapidev group of companies and use Saudi Arabia as its base for wider international growth.
QistBazaar raises Rs500 million in a first of its kind private sukuk
The Karachi buy now pay later retailer placed an unrated, privately issued sukuk with an Alfalah fund. It is the first tranche of a planned series.
How ABHI went from a salary advance app to owning a bank
Founded in Karachi in 2021, ABHI sold early pay as an employee benefit, raised a Series A at a $90 million valuation, issued Pakistan's first fintech sukuk and bought a microfinance bank.
Government pulls telecom bill from Senate after row over property rights
The IT ministry will withdraw its telecom amendment bill and bring a fresh one, after objections to right of way rules for towers and fibre.
WinSci Pakistan wins Nature's 2025 Science Outreach award and US$50,000
The Lahore organisation cofounded by Cambridge materials scientist Maheera Abdul Ghani took the outreach category of the Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science.
Systems Limited profit rises 17 percent as exports and acquisitions lift sales
Pakistan's largest listed software exporter reported half year revenue up 35 percent, helped by Confiz and growth in North America and the Middle East.
Lahore born cofounder's Fasset hits $1 billion value in $68 million round
The stablecoin neobank, which one outlet calls an Islamic neobank, raised a Series C led by Japan's SBI Group, only months after its Series B.
Credit bureau Tasdeeq lists on PSX after IPO oversubscribed 21 times
Tasdeeq Information Services, which serves banks, microfinance lenders and digital lenders, rang the gong at the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 24 August.
How EduFi turned a tuition bill into a monthly instalment
Pakistan had no student loan product to speak of. EduFi built one by paying colleges directly, underwriting families itself and raising the country's largest pre seed round.
PVARA opens crypto licensing portal and sets 5 September deadline
Pakistan's virtual assets regulator has notified its licensing rules and told existing operators to apply for a No Objection Certificate or stop trading.
Yango Group takes a stake in Trukkr in its first Pakistan investment
The Dubai based technology company's $20 million venture arm has bought an undisclosed stake in the Karachi logistics lender.
Pakistan's IT exports reach a monthly high of $417 million in July
State Bank data shows technology exports edged past June's record, rising 18 percent from a year earlier as the new fiscal year began.
Daraz opens a licensed online pharmacy for customers across Pakistan
The ecommerce marketplace now sells over the counter medicines and health products from its own licensed pharmacy, with 450 products at launch and ten pharma partners signed.
Saraaf cofounder Syed Ismail named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia
The Karachi commodity sourcing founder is one of seven Pakistanis on the 2026 list, placed in the Consumer and Enterprise Technology category.
World Context and Multinet team up to ship Pakistani data to US robotics labs
The startup collects real world visual data from Pakistani industry. Multinet will supply storage and bandwidth to move it abroad.
Solar firm Inverex launches Inverex GO with electric bikes, scooters and a rickshaw
The solar company has entered electric two and three wheelers, with prices starting at Rs285,000 and battery swap models that it says take 30 seconds.
Zong launches Z Wallet inside its app, using Zindigi's banking licence
The telecom operator is back in digital money with a wallet for its 22 million monthly app users, built on JS Bank's Zindigi rather than a licence of its own.
Bazaar buys payments firm Keenu and says profit is quarters away
Karachi's best funded startup has completed its purchase of the State Bank licensed wallet and point of sale company, folding payments into its commerce platform.
Daraz reaches group level profit as Pakistan's online retail turns to sustainability
Pakistan's biggest online marketplace became profitable across the group in July, The Express Tribune reported. Online shopping is still only 2 to 3 percent of retail.
Finance minister and digital authority study tokenising real estate
Pakistan is looking at digital assets and tokenisation for property and other investments. Officials called for a framework first, and no pilot has been announced.
How a volunteer science charity in Lahore caught the attention of Nature
WinSci Pakistan has no paid staff that it discloses and runs on interns, webinars and borrowed classrooms. In 2025 it won US$50,000 and a global award.
Dastgyr: the kiryana app that raised a record and then had to shrink
Launched in a lockdown with $300,000, Dastgyr raised more than $40 million in two years. The retailers it chased ordered less when inflation bit, and most of the staff went.
Bioniks becomes first Pakistani startup to win a Zero Project Award
The Karachi prosthetics maker was one of 77 winners chosen from 522 nominations at the disability rights awards in Vienna.
The committee that moved into an app
Oraan took a savings habit that rotates billions of dollars in cash through Pakistani households and gave it a treasury desk, a vetting process and, lately, gold.
EduFi takes $250,000 first prize at LEAP 2025 in Riyadh
The Lahore student lender beat more than 2,000 companies in the Rocket Fuel Pitch Competition, the first Pakistani startup to win it.
Power minister says national battery storage framework is being drafted
Awais Leghari told an Islamabad conference that safety, grid connection and investment rules for batteries are coming, with pilots already approved.
How Bazaar went from a Karachi kiryana app to Pakistan's best funded startup
Four rounds in 21 months, a free ledger that pulled in millions of shops, and a 2025 payments acquisition. Bazaar's route to the top of Pakistan's funding table.
Pakistan Influencer Awards launches in Karachi with Ipsos as research partner
A new awards platform says it will rank creators on data and audit its process, with advisers from major agencies and broadcasters.
Abhi Microfinance Bank plans PSX listing to raise up to Rs3 billion
The lender behind the Abhi earned wage access app is offering about 14 per cent of the bank to investors, and its draft prospectus is out for comment.
Government plans seven national AI hubs to back 560 startups
The IT ministry has issued a request for proposals for hubs in seven cities, with seed grants for 150 AI startups over two years.
PSEB adds first Top Freelancer Award to its IT export awards
The Pakistan Software Export Board will formally honour independent digital workers for the first time, as freelancers pass $1.1 billion in IT exports.
Sky47 opens 8.5 MW Karakoram 01 AI data centre in Islamabad
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the Mari Energies backed facility on 24 July. Its claim to be Pakistan's first AI data centre is disputed.
Daraz opens its DEX delivery network to Khaadi, Sapphire and other brands
The logistics arm says it has grown sixfold since it began serving businesses outside the Daraz marketplace in November 2025, and now has more than 200 brands.
Pakistan plans Alibaba linked AI diagnostics across 1,110 hospitals
The government says AI disease screening will come to public and private hospitals under the PM Health Card Programme, with a deal with Alibaba Group expected to be signed.
Jazz International takes control of TPL Insurance after buying 76.33% stake
The Veon backed telecom group completed its purchase on 13 July and has already reshaped the insurer's board and finance team.
Pakistan in talks with Netflix and plans a local streaming platform
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal says Pakistani dramas deserve more space on global services, and that Islamabad wants its own OTT platform too.
Pakistan proposes moving government websites to local data centres
A draft Pakistan Information Security Framework would pull state websites and apps back from foreign hosts and set mandatory security controls for hosting providers.
Cabinet approves Pakistan's first national esports policy
The federal cabinet has cleared a policy that treats competitive gaming as a professional and economic sector and promises a new national federation.
Senate panel says 3,000 EV charging stations by 2030 is not enough
Senators reviewing the government's electric vehicle plan said the target is too low, with one saying Karachi alone needs up to 5,000 stations.