The round was led by Indus Valley Capital, Zayn Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures, a press release issued by the startup said, adding that it was the first time that three leading Pakistan-focused venture capitalists (VC) were investing together in a startup.

The round was also joined by Shorooq Partners, Kinnow Capital, Muir Capital, Sai Ventures, and some key angels, including Turner Novak, William Hockey, and Teddy Himler, according to the press release.

COLABS was founded in 2019 by Omar Shah, a former private equity and venture investor, and his twin brother Ali Shah, who operates a long-established family-run real estate and development firm SABCON, which designs and builds out COLABS' facilities.

Its leadership team also includes Fatima Mazhar in the role of the chief operating officer. Mazhar was one of the early executives at Careem and had helped the company scale in many international markets.

The press release said COLABS was started as a coworking platform with a "state-of-the-art facility in Lahore but has since evolved to offer several additional services and tools to entrepreneurs and freelancers, including educational boot camps and a SaaS platform for back-office solutions such as business incorporation, talent sourcing and management, payroll processing and legal and tax compliance".

"From the very beginning, COLABS has taken a different direction from conventional coworking spaces by creating a unique proposition in the market. Today, COLABS has a partner network of 100+ organisations involved in taking initiatives to boost the Pakistani startup ecosystem’s growth," the press release said.

It added that "COLABS has placed itself at the heart of the startup agenda in Pakistan through its events, networking forums and startup facilitation."

"One of the many ways COLABS creates impact is by hosting 250+ startup community-relevant events annually with an aggregate attendance of over 200,000 significant visitors to date. The facility has seen community members grow, hire the right talent, raise investment and thrive with the support provided by COLABS," the press release stated.

Moreover, it quoted co-founder Omar Shah as saying, "We had founded COLABS to help accelerate the Pakistani startup ecosystem and we’re very proud of what we have achieved in a little over three years."

"Even though we’re mainly seen as a coworking operator, what we have built is a solid foundation to make it easy for freelancers, startups, and even international companies entering Pakistan, start and manage their businesses.

"Today anyone looking to start a company in Pakistan could use COLABS not only as a place where they work but also as a partner that manages their different back-office functions,” Omar said.

With regards to the funding raised in the seed round, he said: "With the capital we have raised from leading investors today, we’re now looking to turn our offerings into software-based solutions and productise services that could also be extended to people and institutions outside of our network, in addition to bringing on world-class talent to our existing team of rockstars.”

According to the press release, "With this investment, COLABS aims to knit together a community of 100,000 entrepreneurs and freelancers in Pakistan, starting with 10,000 members within the next two years."

"This ambition will be realised through the national expansion across major cities in Pakistan like Karachi and Islamabad," the press release said, adding, "The strong foundation built over the last two years will enable COLABS to reach their envisioned goal."

The press release further quoted investor Aatif Awan, founder and managing partner of Indus Valley Capital as saying: “The first time I visited COLABS, I found the community and energy to be a microcosm of the fast-growing Pakistani tech ecosystem.

"We’re thrilled to partner with the COLABS team to help them build the leading platform and community that will power the growth of Pakistani tech across startups, freelancers and global companies expanding into Pakistan,” he added.

Similarly, Faisal Aftab, co-founder and managing partner of Zayn Capital said, “I have closely watched COLABS grow into one of the key players in Pakistan’s startup ecosystem. We were fortunate enough to have met some of the startups we invested in, at their spaces."

"Omar and his team continue to do excellent work to accelerate the growth of the startup ecosystem here and we are excited to join their journey in serving tens of thousands of founders and freelancers across Pakistan,” Aftab said.

“It was always our dream to have our own food outlet,” Anum tells Eos. “You can’t go wrong with the food business, it is always profitable because whatever the situation may be, people always eat.”

Now in their mid-twenties, the sisters grew up in a rural area, with a strong culture of being hospitable to guests. “Our father Mazhar Ali Laghari is a landlord and has always enjoyed a big social circle,” says Suman. “We used to manage lots of guests staying over in our house near Juddho city, in Mirpurkhas district, serving them home-cooked meals, while cooking was done in a small kitchen.”

Anum and Suman believe that black pepper, which is known as the king of spices, adds a unique taste in any cuisine. So they chose ‘Black Pepper’ as the name for their restaurant which serves a variety of food.

Two sisters are challenging social norms by opening and running their own restaurant in Hyderabad

While Black Pepper’s signature offering, the Royal Sindhi Biryani is a best-seller along with their club sandwich and chicken karahi, the extensive menu also offers other fast food options, Chinese, barbecue, vegetarian and Desi specialties.

Their head chef Akbar Solangi belongs to a family of chefs that the Lagharis have known for many years. “The recipes have been tried and tested at home,” says Suman, a computer science graduate who manages the cash till at the restaurant. “We are also planning to introduce our Aunt’s special pudding recipe that has been served to guests for many years at our village home.”

The restaurant was ready to open early last year, but the plans were delayed when the government imposed a lockdown. “We finally opened in December 2021,” says Anum, who looks after the overall management of the restaurant. “The first day we served only two customers, but now we have around 150 to 200 customers daily. We are also seeing more women customers now, because they seem to feel comfortable coming to Black Pepper, knowing that it is run by women.”

After completing her masters in economics, Anum worked as a district health officer for a non-governmental organisation for three years. She left her nine to five job when she started their restaurant. “Instead of being tied to working for a fixed amount of money, I always wanted to work harder, be my own boss and earn better,” she says. “So when our plans for the restaurant were ready to roll out, I quit my job. The restaurant makes us feel independent and more productive.”

The restaurant was ready to open early last year, but the plans were delayed when the government imposed a lockdown. “We finally opened in December 2021,” says Anum, who looks after the overall management of the restaurant. “The first day we served only two customers, but now we have around 150 to 200 customers daily.

The sisters bought and merged two shops in the busy market area of main Qasimabad for the restaurant. Decorated with wallpapers, chairs, tables and couches, a portion of the restaurant is reserved for family seating.

“Food must always be delicious and we don’t compromise on quality,” says Anum. “Even though things are getting more and more expensive, we try to keep our customers happy by low pricing and consistent standards. Every item is priced about 30 rupees lower than the market rate.”

Presently, Liza Bhatti is the only female server they have, but they plan to hire more girls so that women clients feel more comfortable. “We have also hired security guards from the very first day to avoid any unpleasant situation in a restaurant that people know is run by women.”

On top of all the other challenges that come with launching a new business, Suman and Anum also worried about acceptance from society. It was their father’s encouragement and support that made it relatively easier to tackle this male dominated space in Hyderabad.

“Despite relatives and other people asking, ‘How can women run a restaurant?’ our father stood by us, supportive and proud,” says Anum.

“There is a patriarchal set up in rural areas and small cities, and men monopolise everything,” says Dr Ghazala Panhwar, professor of sociology at the University of Sindh. “Women are seldom educated and are not given their rights as individuals. It is admirable to see these courageous girls breaking stereotypes by setting up their own food business. Women need to step forward with education or skills to face social challenges for economic sustainability.”

Apart from running Black Pepper, Anum also runs two schools in Hyderabad through donations and support by friends.

“Roshni is a school and vocation centre for transgender individuals, where apart from education, they are taught various skills such as sewing and embroidery,” says Anum. “The other is a street school in Naseem Nagar, Qasimabad, for children who cannot afford to pay for their education.”

Anum, who can cope well with difficulties, and Suman, whose strengths are in being bold and blunt, hope that other women will also follow in their steps. “Cooking and serving food comes naturally to women and it is something they all do at home,” says Anum. “So instead of miserably waiting for jobs and husbands to materialise, and being dependent on your family, it is better to run your business. And what better than food?”

A delegation of the Pakistan Stockbrokers Association (PSBA) met Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Wednes­day and presented their budget proposals for 2022-23.

They said that the current high rate of Capital Gains Tax of 12.5 per cent was discouraging investments in the capital market.

“For encouraging investments in equities for a longer period there should be no tax where the holding period is for three years and above, while it may be 5pc where the holding period was between two and three years.”

The association noted that it was difficult for non-resident Pakistanis to file returns in the absence of any other source of income.

“As such for investment in stocks they may be treated on a par with the filers. This would encourage remittance of foreign exchange to Pakistan and investment in the capital market,” the budget proposal added.

The association has also asked the government to rationalise the current tax rate on dividends to 10pc from the existing 25pc, but it was 50pc for non-filers. It has also added that there should not be any withholding tax on dividends up to Rs1 million per annum.

It also demanded that tax on brokerage and commission be reduced to 3pc compared to the present rate of 12pc.

Mr Tarin said the government was encouraging investment and enlisting of entities on the stock exchange.

 KARACHI: Amid mounting geopolitical tensions, the rupee plunged to an all-time low against the US dollar at Rs179.22 in the interbank market on Tuesday.

The currency dealers said the demand for greenbacks was high despite falling oil prices on the international market. The dollar gained up to 25 paisa against the rupee on Tuesday. The dollar was slightly lower in the State Bank’s quoted prices compared to prices issued by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan.

The dollar was traded in the range of Rs179.22 to Rs179.30. Market experts said the dollar would maintain a bullish trend due to high oil prices and a subsequent increase in the import bill.

“If the State Bank of Pakistan sets the exchange rate free in the interbank, the dollar will immediately go beyond Rs180 within a day to two,” said a currency dealer of a large bank.

The SBP has been influencing the interbank market to defuse the tendency for a sudden increase in the dollar prices while it allows gradual appreciation of the dollar against the rupee.

The latest data showed that the SBP reserves slipped to $16.212bn in Ma­rch compared to $20.073bn in August 2021.

The higher inflows thro­ugh remittances and incr­eased export proceeds during the current fiscal year supported the exchange rate but it could not stop the rupee from day-to-day depreciation.

In its first leg of engagements, an ADB delegation led by Vice President Shixin Chen and comprising country director Yong Ye had a series of meetings on Monday with Pakistan authorities including Prime Minister Imran Khan, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin and Economic Affairs Minister Omar Ayub Khan.

The delegation would be visiting provinces over the next couple of days to review the existing portfolio of projects and programmes and brainstorm for future financing.

“Both sides discussed new reform areas for ADB’s assistance including domestic resource mobilisation, climate change and public-private partnerships,” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) after the delegation met Omar Ayub Khan.

Agrees more investments in road, agriculture, renewable energy

Domestic resource mobilisation would help the government to create fiscal space through enhanced revenue collection and overcome the challenge of fiscal deficit. Furthermore, it was also “agreed to enhance investments in the road sector, agriculture, renewable energy, digital connectivity, vocational education and social sector”, the MEA said.

The ADB team led by Mr Chen also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan to assure that the Manila-based lending agency would continue to support Pakistan to acce­lerate economic growth. He also “appreciated the government’s handling of the Covid crisis,” said the Prime Minister’s Office, adding that Pakistan’s economy was much better than many countries during the pandemic.

The prime minister appreciated the bank for its support to Pakistan in socio-economic development.

At present, 37 ADB-funded projects worth $7.9 bn are under implementation. During the current fiscal year, ADB disbursed $1.1bn whereas seven new projects amounting to $2bn had been signed. ADB has provided over $1.3bn for Covid response including social protection, vaccination and budgetary support for fiscal stimulus.

Mr Omar deliberated on Pakistan’s development priorities and expected the ADB to also support road networks, digital connectivity, technical education, climate change and domestic resource mobilisation. It was noted during the review that ADB with its continued and enhanced financial assistance had become the leading development partner in recent years.

Mr Chen noted reforms in trade, energy and capital markets leading to an increase in ADB’s disbursement for development projects by 25pc in a year.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin also thanked the ADB for always being a source of support in pursuing reform agenda and implementing various development projects in Pakistan. He assured the delegation that Pakistan was committed to introducing reforms in various sectors in the face of various challenges to address the long outstanding structural issues and to attain sustainable and inclusive growth.

Lack of positive triggers amidst the opposition’s quest for a vote of no confidence against the prime minister led the benchmark index to close in the red zone. In addition, global markets remained jittery after Russian war planes bombarded areas around which the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation have been deployed.

“Pakistan awaits the entry of frontier-market investors, which aren’t coming due to an unstable rupee against the greenback,” the brokerage added.

At the end of trading, the KSE-100 index lost 286.44 points or 0.66 per cent on a day-on-day basis to close at 43,366.89 points.

The trading volume decreased 22.9pc to 115.1 million shares while the traded value went down 30.8pc to $20.4m on a day-on-day basis.

Sectors that took away the highest number of points from the benchmark index included oil and gas exploration (57.74 points), commercial banking (56.66 points), cement (56.54 points), technology and communication (52.21 points) and power generation and distribution (28.95 points).

Stocks contributing significantly to the traded volume included Flying Cement Ltd (11.63m shares), Pak Elektron Ltd (8.14m shares), Ghani Global Holdings Ltd (7.02m shares), TeleCard Ltd (6.3m shares) and TPL Properties Ltd (6.1m shares).

Shares contributing positively to the index included Engro Fertilisers Ltd (41.58 points), Fauji Fertiliser Company Ltd (41.58 points), Fauji Fertiliser Bin Qasim Ltd (4.64 points), Shakarganj Ltd (4.18 points) and Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd (3.84 points).

Stocks that took away the maximum number of points from the index included TRG Pakistan Ltd (40.12 points), Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (30.01 points), United Bank Ltd (26.7 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (22.72 points) and The Hub Power Company Ltd (22.13 points).

In percentage terms, the largest declines were registered by National Refinery Ltd (4.58pc), Avanceon Ltd (4.35pc), Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan Ltd (4.22pc), Unity Foods Ltd (4.06pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (3.89pc).

Foreign investors were net buyers as they purchased shares worth $0.54m.

The latest funding comes only six months after the company announced a $30m Series A in August 2021, bringing the total funding secured to date to $107.8m across four rounds since February 2020.

Investors, including Indus Valley Capital, Defy.vc, Acrew Capital, Wavemaker Partners, B&Y Venture Partners and Zayn Capital also participated in the latest deal.

Founded in June 2020 by Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, Bazaar provides procurement, fulfillment, operating software, digital lending and supply chain products to merchants and suppliers in Pakistan.

“We are humbled and excited to continue on the path to creating a generation-defining story for Pakistan. With significant backing of two of the largest venture growth funds in the world, we believe this will continue to change the narrative on the country and inspire countless more and bigger stories in near future," say founders of the platform.

According to a statement, Bazaar’s mission is to build an operating system for traditional retail in Pakistan. "This retail economy, worth over $170bn, is primarily offline and mostly served through five million SMEs across the country."

The statement added that the merchant base, the lifeline of Pakistan’s economy, also lacked access to formal financial services in a country that hosts the world’s third-largest unbanked population.

"At the same time, Pakistan is undergoing a massive digital penetration wave driven by the widespread availability of affordable smartphones and some of the lowest mobile broadband costs in the world," the company says.

Bazaar says it aims to "capitalise on these fundamentals by building an integrated platform of B2B offerings that can aggregate, digitise, and finance the country’s fragmented retail landscape".

“We are thrilled to support Bazaar’s vision of building an end-to-end commerce and fintech platform for millions of unbanked and offline merchants in Pakistan”, said Christian Jensen, Partner at Dragoneer Investment Group.

“Bazaar’s pace of geographic expansion and new product development is a testament to the rare talent and culture Hamza and Saad have cultivated at Bazaar.”

Bazaar’s B2B e-commerce marketplace is now servicing 21 towns and cities across Pakistan, covering 30 per cent of Pakistan’s population through more than a dozen functional fulfillment facilities.

The platform is adding three to four new cities and towns to its last-mile network every month, putting it on course to establish the country's largest tech-enabled footprint by the end of the year, the statement says.

The statement said the mobile application had on-boarded over 2.4m businesses across 500 cities and towns in the country, recording over $10bn in annualised bookkeeping transaction value.

The company said it also recently launched Bazaar Credit, a short-term working capital financing product, which provided liquidity to its largely unbanked merchant base.

“To date, Bazaar has provided thousands of digital loans, with 100pc repayment and significant uplift in merchant buying volumes.”

John Curtius, partner at Tiger Global Management said: “We believe that Pakistan is at an inflection point in its tech ecosystem development. We are excited to back their incredible team and phenomenal growth in such a short span of time."

 THE goodwill for the government among the business elite seems to be losing its shine, as they can be seen talking in terms of the thick ‘clouds gathering on the political horizon’ and ‘energy and commodity cycles acerbating economic challenges’. More than any other factor, however, it is the recent outburst in the domain of diplomacy that has for sure triggered a strong sense of resentment.

Taking the political chaos as a necessary evil of democracy, and the economic challenges as universal in the wake of the pandemic, Pakistani businesses say they can live with it all, but the diplomatic strong talk is making them nervous, with some even calling it ‘suicidal’.

The wisdom of publicly ridiculing trade partners is seemingly beyond their comprehension, and they fear retaliation that could cripple the fragile national economy.

In a recent policy note, State Bank (SBP) predicted a lower growth rate than the target of 4.8 per cent but still over 4pc in the current fiscal. “This moderation should help keep at bay demand-side pressures on inflation and contain non-oil imports, notwithstanding the significant uncertainty about the future path of global energy and food prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” it hoped.

In terms of indicators, it said: “Since January, automobile sales and electricity generation have declined month-on-month. Sales of petroleum products and cement have also decelerated. In the second quarter of 2021-22, growth in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales dipped and general sales tax collections from services were lower than last year. On the supply side, large-scale manufacturing (LSM) growth has been revised upward following the rebasing, settling at around 5-6pc (year-on-year) since October. Agricultural prospects have somewhat weakened, with key inputs, such as fertiliser off-take and water availability during the Rabi season, being lower than last year. Cotton and wheat production will likely be less than previous estimates,” noted the SBP report.

Political confusion and economic challenges are taken as part of life in Pakistan, but diplomatic strong talk is making business leaders nervous

That being so, the exporters are hoping that the West would ignore the recent provocation and that the sober elements would ensure that delusional self-grandiosity would somehow be kept in check.

“Do they not understand that the Russian invasion has united the West once again and collectively they can choke Russia dry? China’s policy turn is just a matter of time as Russia ignores calls for restraint. The war images have rallied strong public support for Russian sanctions. No wonder US giants like Coke, Pepsi, Mc Donald, Facebook, etc are pulling out of Russia. Why is Pakistan bent on inviting trouble? Do we not already have more on the plate than we can chew,” remarked a worried textile exporter as he poured his heart out, regretting his earlier support for the current rulers.

Ehsan Malik, CEO, Pakistan Business Council, echoing the sentiments of PBC members, said: “Exporters are confused about how the diplomacy will counter the negatives of recent public statements about the West. At risk is our duty-free access to the EU markets under the GSP-plus scheme. The hope here is that Western governments will be influenced more by the need to continue supporting the jobs and wellbeing of the people of Pakistan than be distracted by this statement or that. By now, they should have got accustomed to our penchant for trying to punch above our weight.”

A former president of the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) said: “There is no way to insulate the business from the fallout of intensifying political chaos as the PTI, throwing caution to the winds, tries to outsmart the opposition and defeat the no-confidence vote in parliament.”

Countering the argument and discarding threat, Abdul Aleem, Secretary-General of the Overseas Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) stressed that despite all the “doom and gloom in certain quarters, high oil prices and the recent conflict in the region, the key segments of the economy, including manufacturing and export, are doing reasonably well, growing at a steady pace. We are reasonably confident that the economic growth of around 5pc can be achieved”.

He was, however, critical of the third amnesty scheme recently announced as yet another opportunity to whiten ill-gotten wealth. “We are strongly opposed to tax amnesty schemes. One wonders who asked for it and how much revenue the government hopes to generate. There are already many loopholes in the tax net, like tax breaks on farm income. Such moves demotivate honest taxpayers who are waiting for authorities to name, shame and punish the identified tax-evaders,” he said.

Aizaz Mansoor Sheikh, Chairman of Kohat Cement and former head of All-Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association who sits on several boards, was disappointed with the general business environment. “These are tough times for businesses. We were still dealing with the Covid fallout when the Ukraine crisis struck, driving things from bad to worse. Prices of commodities and energy have gone through the roof due to sourcing and logistics issues. We are facing additional pressure because of massive currency devaluation and political instability,” he lamented.

Mr Malik endorsed. “The relentless commodity headwinds, acerbated by the Ukraine crisis, have made an already difficult external account situation worse.”

Without directly opposing the recent relief package that includes Rs10 per litre relief on petrol prices and Rs5 relief in electricity charges, the business leaders did mention the situation in Sri Lanka which recently imposed seven-and-a-half-hour daily power cuts because it did not have enough foreign exchange to import fuel. Being an oil-importing country, Pakistan, instead of supporting fuel conservation, has incentivised consumption by making it more affordable even if the government can’t afford to do it, they argued.

Inevitably, growth will slow down. The third-quarter results of companies by the end of March may not suffer, but the following quarter’s results are likely to be affected. The commodity cycle is not the only factor impacting the sentiment, they argue. Uncertainty, political and otherwise, is clouding the outlook rather seriously.