The Startup Ecosystem of Pakistan
Pakistan has 4 cities in the top 1000 and is one of South Asia’s best countries for setting up a startup.
COUNTRY RANKING
Pakistan’s startup scene remains stable in 2023 on the 76th position, having gained 1 more city in the global top 1000.
Population
Million
Regional Ranking
In South Asia
Global Ranking
Worldwide
Ecosystem
Startup Ecosystem Overview
As one of the most populous countries in the world, Pakistan’s economy has massive potential to grow. For this to happen, digitalization and successful startups will be a critical element. Recently, the digital infrastructure in Pakistan has seen improvement with a focus on the 5G spectrum auction for the 2022-2024 fiscal year. This came together with legal frameworks that regulate and promote digital payments, investment, and credit under the Digital Banking Policy (SBP). In addition, the government maintains Special Technology Zones offering several tax exemptions and incentives. Last but not least, the Companies Amendment Act (2021) has recognized startups in its scope and introduced a legal framework to them.
Pakistan has come a long way with its legal framework, but there are still some areas that require more clarity when it comes to taxation or incentives for domestic investments. The country’s turbulent political climate is not helping to create certainty and stable policies to boost the local startup ecosystem. A challenge for Pakistani startups is the absence of success stories and shut down of several startups such as AirLift due to a funding crunch. The country needs to come up with more ways of providing its startup ecosystems with qualified and trained personnel, as well as more funding.
The country has not yet produced its first unicorn, but we think this will happen soon if the startup scene recovers from the contraction of funding and continues to attract investment.
Startups
Pakistan Top Startup Industries
144 startups
58 startups
33 startups
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Ecosystem HealthCheck
Pakistan Ecosystem Health Check
The health check tables allow you to look at the performance Pakistan has in each of the parameters that are part of StartupBlink's ranking algorithm. There are five tables, corresponding to the three subscores, the subscore analysis and industry ana...
- Overperformance
- Performance equal to global ranking
- Underperformance
ECOSYSTEM
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Ecosystem
The Startup Ecosystem in Pakistan
Global Rank
Pakistan is ranked within the top 100 startup ecosystems globally.
Top Industries
Pakistan’s startup scene is best represented in Transportation, Marketing & Sales, and in and Edtech.
Top Cities for Startups in Pakistan - Ranked by StartupBlink
| 2023 National Rank & Change | City | Global Rank & Change | Total Score | Quantity Score | Quality Score | Business Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st 0 | 235th + 56 | 2.130 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | |
2nd 0 | 248th + 57 | 1.970 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | |
3rd 0 | 396th + 42 | 0.837 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 | |
4th 0 | 982nd new | 0.117 | 00.00 | 00.00 | 00.00 |
Startups
Notable Startups in Pakistan
Startups
Successful Transportation startups in Pakistan
ECOSYSTEMSFeatured Startup Ecosystems
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