How 5 businesses at Daftarkhwan plan to hit the ground running this year.
As the fireworks pop and fizzle, Daftarkhwan’s supercommunity rings in the new year, reminiscing on their journey and strategizing for the next year. From vast growth and breaking international ground to developing counters to the global recession, here’s how 5 businesses at Daftarkhwan are going to hit the ground running in 2023:
Daraz
The newest addition to our supercommunity, Daraz is the leading e-commerce marketplace across South Asia, providing sellers and customers alike with end-to-end commerce solutions through meticulous logistics, payment infrastructure and financial services.
Resolving to “do better than yesterday, each day,” Shahwar Pasha, Brand Manager (Phones and Tablets) at Daraz reflects on the ecosystem’s status quo, “The current macroeconomic factors have negatively impacted businesses and individuals working for businesses. 2023 is all about recovery and survival. They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going”
Invest2Innovate
Invest2Innovate is a business consulting service that supports early-stage enterprises and the broader entrepreneurship ecosystem in untapped developing markets. Working from Daftarkhwan | North and Daftarkhwan | Vantage, Invest2Innovate partnered with Higher Education Commission to revive the entrepreneurship ecosystem across universities, and supported over 50 Business Incubation Centers by equipping them with the tools and knowledge to execute exceptional incubation programs. Additionally, Invest2Innovate also trained 144 entrepreneurs on business proposals and pitching- with over 20 of them going on to secure grants of $35,000+ each from HEDP.
Keenly following the trajectory of the startup ecosystem with their Deal Flow Roundups and actively empowering female entrepreneurs to raise investment with projects such as WeRaise, Invest2Innovate’s biggest personal triumph in 2022 was helping medIQ ($1.8 million) and Daftarkhwan’s supercommunity member, Out-Class ($500,000) close their funding rounds, and increasing the number of deals for women-led startups.
“My resolution this year is to find gratitude in what I have,” affirms Sidra Amin, Programs and Partnerships Lead at Invest2Innovate, “We are aiming to drive more businesses to growth, bringing in more foreign investment funds into the country, and as always, releasing quality insights on the ecosystem!”
Bazaar Technologies
Raising an impressive $70 million in Series B last March and expanding their services to over 55 cities this year, Bazaar Technologies is one of the leading Pakistani startups, aiming to digitize Pakistan’s retail with e-commerce, fintech and supply chain solutions. “Our goal is to keep on providing ease and access to all our customers and never stop expanding,” exclaims Saad Amjad, Growth Associate at Bazaar Technologies, “Daftarkhawan has helped us in providing top notch facilities including space where we could work as a team and hold meetings.”
Har Aik Global Associates
Founded in 2020, Har Aik Global Associates is a people-based business that provides a one stop shop for all your accounting, auditing, finance, tax, advisory and legal needs. 2022 was a big year for them, moving from a home-based set up to a proper office space at Daftarkhwan | Alpha.
Arsalan Azhar, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Har Aik Global Associates added, “Coming out from our home city Islamabad and expanding into Lahore was also quite significant. We are pleased that in both these locations our preferred partner has been Daftarkhwan. The state-of-the-art facilities and a very supportive team provide a seamless experience not only for us but also for our team.”
With a personal new year’s resolution of “moving out of his comfort zone”, Arsalan adds that for his business, 2023 will be all about “Expansion, expansion, expansion! Talent attraction, development and retention! Fingers crossed, our goals remain the same, and we remain bullish. Our aim is breaking stereotypes associated with the typical employer employee relationship and provide excellent development opportunities to our people.”
Amaana Capital
Amaana Capital is the international venture capital arm of NRD Capital, which is a US-based alternative investments platform. Founded in 2022, Amaana seeks to invest in the digitization of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia with a focus on investing in visionary entrepreneurs seeking to unlock the next level of growth for their technology platforms. Last year they were able to set up their on-ground Pakistan team at Daftarkhwan | Vogue and started actively deploying funds.
Ali Irfan Najam, Vice President of Amaana Capital reflected, “Our opinion is that 2023 will be a year of very difficult, sometimes perhaps forced, adjustments by businesses that don’t want to accept new realities. Our business’ goal is to keep finding those new compelling business opportunities that adapt and to keep deploying capital.”
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