In this 70th episode of the misaal podcast, you will listen to my conversation with Saad Khawar — co-founder of Datacade. A provider of labeling and annotation solutions for LLMs. Guest: Saad Khawar | https://www.linkedin.com/in/saad-khawar/ Startup: Datacade | https://datacade.ai/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free newsletter: https://techshaw.substack.com/ Other ways to listen: https://techshaw.com/misaal Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/zahid ..read more

In this episode of the misaal podcast, I’ll give you a quarterly update on the startup ecosystem in Pakistan. As far as startup funding goes, there isn’t much to discuss, as Pakistani startups raised $0 in Q1. Still, many things happened in Q1, such as SadaPay acquisition, startup closures, layoffs, etc. It’s mostly bad news, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Tech & VC Landscape Pakistan 2023 Report: https://insights.datadarbar.io/tech-vc-landscape-pakistan-2023-report/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free ..read more

In this 68th episode of the misaal podcast, you will listen to my conversation with Syed Azfar Hussain — the Project Director at NIC Hyderabad. A public-private partnership-funded incubation center for ambitious entrepreneurs. Guest: Syed Azfar Hussain | https://www.linkedin.com/in/azfar84/ Organization: NIC Hyderabad | https://nichyderabad.com/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free newsletter: https://techshaw.substack.com/ Other ways to listen: https://techshaw.com/misaal Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/z ..read more

In this 67th episode of the misaal podcast, I unpack the recent $50 million acquisition of SadaPay by Papara. Despite a challenging month with no new startup funding rounds, the ecosystem showed signs of resilience with SadaPay’s acquisition. However, there are no whiners in this deal. Discover insights into the impact of political changes on the ecosystem, the significance of startup acquisitions, and what the SadaPay deal reveals about venture capital dynamics. I dissect the valuation, the terms of the deal, and its implications for investors and the broader ecosystem. Host: Zahid Lilani - h ..read more

In this 66th episode of the misaal podcast, you will listen to my conversation with Gohar Shafique — a serial entrepreneur and founder of We Want Design. An easy-to-use design and development service for startups, enterprises, and agencies. Guest: Gohar Shafique | https://www.linkedin.com/in/gohardotme/ Startup: We Want Design | https://www.wewantdesign.co/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free newsletter: https://techshaw.substack.com/ Other ways to listen: https://techshaw.com/misaal Buy me a coffee: https://www.buym ..read more

In this 65th episode of the misaal podcast, you will listen to my conversation with Huzaifa Ahmad — the co-founder of Rizq A social impact startup that tackles the problem of food insecurity and waste through its many different programs. Guest: Huzaifa Ahmad | https://www.linkedin.com/in/huzaifa-ahmad-7026aa165/ Startup: Rizq | https://rizq.org/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free newsletter: https://techshaw.substack.com/ Other ways to listen: https://techshaw.com/misaal Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.co ..read more

In this episode, Adeel Raza, co-founder of eLearning Evolve, shares how his free WordPress plugin proved more valuable than he first anticipated, allowing him to offer a paid version. Guest: Adeel Raza | https://www.linkedin.com/in/adeel-raza/ Startup: eLearning evolve | https://elearningevolve.com/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free newsletter: https://techshaw.substack.com/ Other ways to listen: https://techshaw.com/misaal Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/zahid ..read more

Hunain Kapadia, the co-founder and CTO of Smartbenefits, joins me to talk about how he is making it easier for employers to provide health and life insurance to their employees at an affordable price. Guest: Hunain Kapadia | https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunainkapadia/ Startup: Smartbenefits | https://smartbenefits.pk/ Host: Zahid Lilani - https://twitter.com/ZahidLilani Startup funding news: Techshaw - https://techshaw.com Free newsletter: https://techshaw.substack.com/ Other ways to listen: https://techshaw.com/misaal Buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/zahid ..read more

From busy cities to remote villages, digital media has revolutionized how Pakistan shares information. The more we understand these changes, the better off we'll be at digesting news, engaging with stories, and understanding the world. The topic of digital media is very close to my heart as a podcaster and publisher serving the Pakistani audience. However, I have an outsider’s perspective on digital media in Pakistan. And for that reason, in this episode of the misaal podcast, I'm thrilled to host someone much smarter on this topic. Her name is Muna Khan, and she is a columnist for DAWN and ..read more

The quarter just ended, and the numbers are in. Pakistani startups raised $6.8 million in disclosed equity funding across five deals in Q3 2023. That’s 87% less than the $55 million raised in Q3 of 2022 but 40% more than the $5 million raised in Q2 of 2023. This brings the YTD funding to $35 million. So what gives? To answer that question and better understand the current trends in Pakistani startup funding, in this episode of the misaal podcast, I am joined by Mutaher Khan. He covers startups for DAWN and is the co-founder of Data Darbar. We discuss the funding winter, startup failures, a ..read more