IFC Invests $3 Million in Pakistan’s First Women-Led Venture Capital Fund

Under its Startup Catalyst Program, the International Financing Corporation (IFC) announced that it was investing $3 million in i2i Ventures.

This program of the global development institution is aimed at supporting innovative early-age startups. i2i Ventures is the first venture capital fund in led by women in Pakistan.

The IFC

According to the IFC’s website, it focuses on the private sector of developing countries. It creates jobs, advances economic development and improves the lives of people.

The aim of the fund is to invest in seed-stage and pre-seed startups to provide support to founders. As far as i2i Ventures is concerned, this venture capital fund and startup accelerator is based in Pakistan.

We focus on investing in and supporting entrepreneurs and early-stage startups in the country.

The IFC said that its catalyst program invests in accelerators and incubators that support startups in underserved markets.

Therefore, it had decided to invest in i2i Ventures, as it also offers support to early-age startups in Pakistan.

The Financing

The IFC issued a statement about its financing. It revealed that $2 million of the financing would come directly from its account.

As for the remaining $1 million, it would come from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi).

The latter supports companies that are owned and led by women. It also aims to bolster the capacity of women entrepreneurs to operate businesses with a high-growth potential.

In 2019, Misbah Naqvi and Kalsoom Lakhani had established i2i Ventures. It provides hands-on support to founders and offers early-stage finding to startups.

Naqvi said that they had seen first hand how difficult it was to build businesses in Pakistan and it had highlighted the resilience of Pakistani founders.

It had been that experience that resulted in the launch of i2i Ventures. They had seen the potential of startups in the Pakistani market.

In fact, they had also recognized the need for investors who have a clear understanding of market and business challenges and can provide support in the early stages.

The Purpose

The IFC country manager for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Zeeshan Sheikh, said that the aim of the corporation was to ensure that startups have access to essential support and funding.

He said that startups in Pakistan have a strong potential for development.

They are also capable of scaling up new technologies and establishing tech-empowered business models that can address issues, such as climate change.

They can also help in increasing access to financial services, health care and quality education, amongst others.

However, he added that there are significant challenges that early-stage entrepreneurs, particularly women, have to face when they comes to accessing the necessary resources.

It is essential to tackle this challenge for building ecosystems that can boost entrepreneurship and innovation.

The IFC first launched the Startup Catalyst Program in 2016. It has offered its support to almost 22 seed funds and accelerators.

These have invested in about 1,180 startups until now and they are spread across 24 emerging markets.