Pakistani co-working startup Colabs raises $3m in seed funding

COLABS becomes Pakistan’s only venture-backed collaborative workspace by a $3 million investment. The round was led by Indus Valley Capital, Zayn Capital and Fatima Gobi Ventures. It is the first time these three leading Pakistan focused VCs are investing together in a startup. The round was also joined by Shorooq Partners, Kinnow Capital, and some key angels, including Turner Novak, William Hockey, and Teddy Himler.

Aatif Awan, Founder and Managing Partner of Indus Valley Capital, said, “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.”

From the very beginning, COLABS has taken a different direction from conventional co-working spaces by creating a unique proposition in the market. Today, COLABS has a partner network of 100+ organizations involved in taking initiatives to boost the Pakistani startup ecosystem’s growth.

The startup has placed itself at the heart of the startup agenda in Pakistan through its events, networking forums and startup facilitations. 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.

“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,” said Omar Shah, co-founder and CEO of COLABS.

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.