Participated · Seed · Jan 2026

Uplift AI is building foundational voice infrastructure for under-served languages, starting with Urdu and other South Asian dialects. Its platform offers speech recognition, text-to-speech and conversational AI APIs that allow third parties to add localized voice interfaces without creating their own language models. The technology is already in production: Khan Academy used it to release 2,500 educational videos in Urdu, Syngenta is deploying it to deliver spoken guidance to farmers, and over 1,000 developers are actively building on the APIs. Co-founders Zaid Qureshi and Hammad Malik, both former Apple and Amazon engineers, assembled the entire data-collection and model-training pipeline in-house to avoid quality compromises common in off-the-shelf solutions. Investors view the company as critical infrastructure addressing the next billion voice users rather than a single consumer app. With $3.5 million in seed capital now secured, Uplift AI plans to expand language coverage into the MENA region, deepen conversational intelligence, and integrate more tightly with education, public-sector and enterprise workflows.

Led · Seed · Dec 2025

Shadiyana operates a full-stack wedding planning marketplace that connects couples with vetted vendors through a web platform and recently launched mobile app. The service gives users real-time access to pricing, availability, and planning tools, streamlining what the founders call a fragmented Rs 900 billion Pakistani wedding industry. To date, the company reports more than 500,000 users, over 600 registered vendors, and 30,000 weddings planned on its platform. Co-founders Neelam Shoaib and Izzah Zaman, both engineers, built the product after experiencing planning pain points firsthand. Fresh pre-seed capital will fund expansion of vendor networks in Lahore and Karachi, acceleration of product development, and growth of engineering and operations teams. Shadiyana aims to become the country’s leading digital hub for end-to-end wedding services. The founders stress customer obsession, transparency, and trust as key differentiators. The recent funding strengthens its financial position as it scales nationally.

Led · Series A · Sep 2024

Qist Bazaar operates a BNPL platform licensed by the SECP as a Non-bank Financial Institution (NBFi), offering installment payment solutions and flexible plans for essential goods to promote financial inclusion. Founded in 2021 and led by CEO Arif Lakhani, the company targets unbanked and underserved communities across Pakistan. In three years the platform has disbursed over 55,000 product-based loans totaling $12 million. Qist Bazaar has launched a dealer network to enable third parties to market its payment plans and has begun B2B2C initiatives with early wins among major textile partners. The company plans to expand its product portfolio, introduce categories such as solar power generators for small households, enhance its technology infrastructure, and scale operations across additional Pakistani cities. It is increasing capacity in Karachi and Lahore and intends to establish a presence in Islamabad, Sukkur, Faisalabad, and Multan. QistBazaar operates a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform that provides 12-month instalment plans for consumer durables, serving customers with limited or no formal credit history. The company is SECP-licensed and describes itself as an NBFC platform that has been EBITDA positive since day one. Since inception in 2021 it has delivered over 20,000 products and, per the CEO, served over 17,000 Pakistanis, while maintaining a dataset spanning 250,000+ individuals to inform its scoring. QistBazaar’s eligibility criteria targets “Every Pakistani,” from unbanked users to those with established bank accounts. Its sales include an element of extra profit on each 12-month sale structure. Through the new partnership with Bank Alfalah it plans to integrate Shariah-compliant embedded lending and enhanced digital financing products to deepen reach and improve customer experience. The deal is positioned to expand financial inclusion by offering affordable monthly payments and embedded consumer durables financing to underserved customers.

Participated · Series A · Jul 2024

Zyp Technologies designs and assembles smart electric motorcycles (Zyp Utility Motorcycles, ZUM 2000) with fleet-management software, anti-theft features, and accident alerts. The company plans to deploy 1,000 ZUM 2000 units and build over 60 battery swap stations in Lahore using the recent funding. Zyp ran trials covering more than 70,000 kilometers with Chughtai Lab and completed a three-month trial with courier TCS, leading to significant purchase interest from Chughtai Lab. It has set up an assembly line capable of producing up to 12,000 electric motorcycles annually. Zyp emphasizes one-minute refueling via swappable batteries and aims to make EVs affordable and robust for Pakistan’s conditions. The company also plans regional expansion in 2025, notably targeting large-scale motorcycle releases in Gulf countries including the United Arab Emirates.

Led · Seed · Jun 2024

Kollegio is an AI- and data-driven edtech platform that accelerates the college application process with generative AI–powered counseling. The platform tracks deadlines, creates internal goals, brainstorms essay topics tailored to university prompts, provides personalized feedback, and matches students to best-fit schools. Kollegio offers 24/7 tailored support and emphasizes ethical assistance that empowers students rather than doing work for them. It is launching early access to over 4,000 waitlisted students and positions its pricing from free up to a $10 AI cover charge for power users—claimed to be less than 1% of the cost of private counselors. The company aims to broaden access to higher education and act as a sidekick to overwhelmed school counselors by providing data-driven applicant profiles. Kollegio is based in Palo Alto, Calif., and is led by CEO and co-founder Senan Khawaja and CTO and co-founder Saeed Naeem. Financially, the company recently raised $750k in pre-seed funding and is using that to kick off its first student cohort.