CDC Group backs Fatima Gobi Ventures’ Pakistan-focused fund

CDC Group (CDC), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, has made an anchor investment in Techxila Fund I, a fund managed by local venture capital (VC) firm Fatima Gobi Ventures (FGV). CDC’s commitment will help to boost Techxila Fund I investments in Pakistan-focused early stage startups, helping to drive transformational impact and spurring economic and social development in the country.

Increasing interest from international investors such as global VC firms, bodes well for Pakistani startups. In the first half of 2021 alone, Pakistani startups raised more funding from VCs than the previous five years combined. Despite a global pandemic, foreign funds accounted for over 70 per cent of Pakistan’s total VC funding in 2020 and 2021. This rise in VC funding has helped to fuel the country’s economic growth – the country has seen an increase in its middle-class over the last two decades, with estimated 84 million Pakistanis (42 per cent of the population) considered middle-class in 2017. In the first half of the year, 46.4 per cent in broadband users and 43.5 per cent 3G/4G subscribers were recorded in the country (at 101 million users and 98 million 3G/4G subscribers respectively) – indicating the significant market penetration and showing there is still much room for growth.