2026
The Frontier List
Twenty seven founders, engineers and scientists under forty whose work is changing what Pakistan's technology industry can do, from supply chains and payments to semiconductors and prosthetics.
- 1
Hamza Jawaid
cofounded Bazaar, Pakistan's best funded startup, and steered it from kiryana procurement into payments with the 2025 Keenu deal.
B2B commerce and fintech
- 2
Saad Jangda
Ex Careem product manager who built Easy Khata, the ledger app that had 2.4 million registered businesses by 2022.
B2B commerce and fintech
- 3
Muhammad Saad
cofounded BridgeLinx, the freight marketplace that raised Pakistan's largest seed round, and made Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2022.
Digital freight marketplace
- 4
Kasra Zunnaiyyer
Built the fleet software and credit engine behind Trukkr, Pakistan's licensed lender to small trucking fleets; Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2024.
Logistics fintech
- 5
Muhammad Owais Qureshi
cofounded Dastgyr, the Karachi B2B marketplace that raised Pakistan's largest Series A, $37 million, in 2022.
B2B commerce
- 6
Wahaj Ahmed
cofounded Retailo, the Riyadh B2B marketplace that raised $45 million in its first 18 months.
B2B commerce
- 7
Talha Ansari
Chief executive who took Retailo from a Karachi launch to a $36 million Series A within 18 months.
B2B commerce
- 8
Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai
cofounded YPay, a Karachi mutual fund app, then Plouton AI, Antler backed finance agents; Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026.
Finance automation and AI agents
- 9
Sarfraz Shahid Hussain
cofounded YPay and then Plouton AI, where he leads the engineering of its finance agents; Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026.
Finance automation and AI agents
- 10
Maheera Abdul Ghani
cofounded WinSci Pakistan, winner of the 2025 Nature Science Outreach award, while finishing a Cambridge PhD on 2D semiconductors.
Science and research
- 11
Syed Ismail
cofounded Saraaf, won Shark Tank Pakistan's record PKR 1.5 billion commitment and made Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026.
B2B commodity sourcing
- 12
Hamza Ali Hakeem
Group Chief Executive Officer of AOS, the Lahore technology group behind the digitization of more than 169 million Punjab land records, and cofounder of the agricultural lender Zaraat Dost.
Enterprise technology and agricultural finance
- 13
Sarkhail Shahid Bawany
Head of product at ABHI, the earned wage access fintech; Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2024 in finance and venture capital.
Earned wage access and embedded finance
- 14
Aleena Nadeem
Founded EduFi, the study now, pay later lender that raised a record $6.1 million pre seed and won LEAP 2025's $250,000 pitch prize.
Education finance
- 15
Iman Jamall
Turned bank research into CreditBook, the khata app that digitised ledgers for hundreds of thousands of Pakistani shopkeepers.
Fintech
- 16
Hasib Malik
cofounded CreditBook, the khata app that won Tiger Global's first Pakistani investment, and turned it into a licensed SME lender.
Fintech
- 17
Halima Iqbal
cofounded Oraan, which digitised Pakistan's savings committees for women, raised $3 million in 2021 and added gold savings in 2025.
Consumer fintech
- 18
Muhammad Zayan Khan
Runs development and artificial intelligence at Zaraat Dost at 23, rebuilding the financing platform and mapping farmland from satellites.
Agricultural technology and AI
- 19
Shershah Hassan
cofounded KalPay, Pakistan's Shariah aligned buy now pay later fintech, which says it reached profitability in 2024.
Fintech, Shariah-aligned buy now pay later
- 20
Waleed Amjad Islam
cofounded KalPay and runs its operations, extending Shariah aligned instalment credit to Pakistani consumers.
Fintech, Shariah-aligned buy now pay later
- 21
Adeel Abid
cofounded Linkstar and Savvy, then helped buy and run Dubai's Oliv, earning a Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia listing in 2024.
Freelancer tools
- 22
Aizaz Nayyer
cofounded Linkstar, a free portfolio site builder for freelancers backed by SOSV, and led the 2023 purchase of Dubai's Oliv.
Freelancer tools
- 23
Ali Raza
cofounded Linkstar, the freelancer site builder backed by SOSV, and spoke for the team on its Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2024 listing.
Freelancer tools
- 24
Anas Niaz
cofounded Bioniks, the Karachi maker of low cost 3D printed bionic arms; Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2023 and Zero Project Award 2025.
Medical devices and prosthetics
- 25
Nabeel Siddiqui
cofounded ModulusTech, the Karachi maker of flat pack steel framed homes, and leads it as chief executive; Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021.
Sustainable housing and construction technology
- 26
Yaseen Khalid
cofounded ModulusTech and runs its operations; UNEP Young Champions of the Earth regional finalist 2018 and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021.
Sustainable housing and construction technology
- 27
Muhammad Saquib Malik
cofounded ModulusTech and built its flat pack housing system; won UN Environment's Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge in 2018.
Sustainable housing and construction technology
How the list is judged
The editors compiled this list from public reporting: company announcements, regulatory filings, interviews given to other outlets and recognised industry lists such as Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia.
Every person was researched against at least two public sources, and every figure in a citation is attributed in the accompanying stories. Where sources disagree, the better documented version is used.
No company paid to be considered, and no sponsor saw the list before publication. Corrections go to contact@frontieredit.com.
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