Indus Valley Capital has closed its $17.5-million debut fund to invest in early-stage internet startups in Pakistan. The fund was oversubscribed, exceeding its initial target of $15 million.
According to Indus Valley’s managing partner Aatif Awan, the fund raised capital from around 75 limited partners (LPs) including Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Most of its LPs are Silicon Valley or Pakistan-based entrepreneurs and operators, some of whom are unicorn tech founders, partners in US venture capital funds, and senior executives in Facebook, Linkedin, Uber, Careem and others.
Indus Valley Capital has made three investments so far. Its portfolio includes First Round Capital-backed transportation startup Airlift, Global Founders Capital-backed B2B commerce startup Bazaar, and Pakistani female fitness platform Aimfit.
The venture firm is sector agnostic, writing cheques from $400,000-$800,000 in seed-stage startups, with room for follow-on investments. It is close to finalising another two investments in remote working and fintech in the coming weeks, Awan told DealStreetAsia in an interview.
Prior to starting Indus Valley, Aatif Awan spent 7 years in the US as Vice President for Growth, International Data and Products at Linkedin. He also spent close to 6 years as programme manager at Microsoft.
Pakistan, one of South Asia’s youngest and most under-capitalised startup ecosystems, has seen a surge of global investor interest in recent months. A number of its homegrown tech firms have begun drawing venture capital interest from further abroad such as the US, Middle East and Singapore.
In some recent deals, US payments giant Stripe invested in Y Combinator fintech startup Safepay, and Prosus Ventures led Bykea’s $13-million Series B round last October.
Pakistan-focused venture capital funds have also emerged in recent years. Apart from Indus Valley Capital, Sarmayacar and i2i Ventures have also taken on Pakistan-focused mandates.
However, not everyone has managed to achieve fundraising success.
Last December, Fatima Gobi Ventures, a joint venture between Pakistani venture firm Fatima Ventures and Shanghai-based Gobi Partners, was reported to have delayed the final close of its $20 million Pakistan-focused vehicle from end-2019 to early 2021.
2020 has largely been a challenging year for many venture funds, particularly those led by first-time fund managers or focused on a niche or frontier market. The COVID outbreak last year also meant that fund managers were affected by global travel bans, which made it difficult to foster new LP connections in overseas markets like the US, Europe and other parts of Asia.
Edited excerpts of the interview with Indus Valley Capital’s Aatif Awan:-
