Airlift secures $85m financing

Published August 19, 2021
Airlift, a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has raised $85 million in Series B financing.— Photo courtesy: Twitter
Airlift, a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has raised $85 million in Series B financing.— Photo courtesy: Twitter

LAHORE: Airlift, a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has raised $85 million in Series B financing, the largest single private funding round in Pakistan’s history.

The financing is about twice the size of the largest private company IPO in the country’s history and the highest in the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region.

Airlift Technologies Co-founder and CEO Usman Gul said the financing will add five per cent to the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI) for the fiscal year 2022. Series B financing is the second round of funding for a company that has met certain milestones and is past the initial startup stage.

The financing is co-led by Josh Buckley of Buckley Ventures and Harry Stebbings of 20VC. Major participants include Y Com­binator ex-president Sam Altman, Biz Stone (co-founder at Twitter/Medium), Jeffrey Katzenberg (ex-CEO Disney), Taavet Hin­rikus (Founder/CEO at TransferWise), and Seve Pagliuca (Co-Chairman Bain Capital).

“A year ago, Airlift halted operations on the transit service and diversified into last-mile grocery delivery. Today, our team closed $85m in Series B financing to scale our delivery platform across continents. With this financing, we as Pakistanis must return to where we started from fighting against the odds and staying true to our core values of hustle, teamwork, resourcefulness, and bias to action. If this is the journey of a thousand miles, we have taken only the first step,” Mr Gul said.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2021

Opinion

Editorial

At heat’s mercy
Updated 28 Apr, 2025

At heat’s mercy

The current heatwave is a dire warning of what lies ahead if Pakistan fails to confront the realities of climate change.
Culture war
28 Apr, 2025

Culture war

THE heightened tensions between India and Pakistan have sealed the fate of Abir Gulaal. Slated for a May release and...
Haj mismanagement
28 Apr, 2025

Haj mismanagement

THE relevant authorities in Pakistan are often blamed for negligence and poor management when it comes to Haj...
From gains to gaps
27 Apr, 2025

From gains to gaps

AS we mark World Immunisation Week 2025 — themed ‘Immunisation for All is Humanly Possible’ — we are faced...
Crisis talks
Updated 28 Apr, 2025

Crisis talks

Sense needs to be restored so that the Pahalgam attack may be independently investigated and the victims given justice.
BYC women in jail
27 Apr, 2025

BYC women in jail

THE detained Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch and other BYC activists, including women, are reported...