In 2023, the Pakistani startup ecosystem faced one of the worst economic slowdowns in recent years and still came out on top with its resounding resilience, adaptability and innovation, marking a transformative year for startups.
As the year comes to an end, let’s take a look back at all that we’ve managed to achieve!
Daftarkhwan has grown to an incredible 250,000+ square feet across 9 unique sites in 3 major cities. With 3000+ members from 290+ diverse businesses, Daftarkhwan continues to be Pakistan’s premium coworking space led by an ambitious team of 230+ individuals.
In 2023, Daftarkhwan launched 2 new spacious sites. In Lahore, we launched Daftarkhwan | Downtown in central Gulberg. Lit with neon and splashes of colour, Downtown is a vibrant 58,000 square feet right off Main Boulevard, plugging you into the heart of Lahore’s main business district. Downtown allows you to take in the lush green panoramic views from its beautiful rooftop garden, and race towards your ambitions alongside a community of passionate disruptors such as Careem and Entertainer Asia.
Expanding its influence in the north region, Daftarkhwan unveiled its latest site in Islamabad’s prestigious Red Zone just last month. Located on Constitution Avenue , F-5- home to Pakistan’s judicial and legislative creme de la creme including the Parliament and Supreme Court- Daftarkhwan | Vanguard is a high security 28,000 square feet site designed for established enterprises with two executive floors of fully managed workspaces.
But that’s not all. In July, Daftarkhwan | Alpha, situated in NASTP, became Pakistan’s first and only coworking space within a Special Technology Zone, ushering in a visit by PM Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Air Chief, and esteemed delegations ranging from China, UAE, Turkey, Italy, Indonesia, Bahrain, Oman and others. The STZA approval offers Daftarkhwan | Alpha members the remarkable opportunity to apply for a Zone Enterprise License that provides 10 years of exclusive tax benefits for your business.
This year Daftarkhwan welcomed to its supercommunity, industry giants such as Arbisoft, Reckitt, Engro, Entertainer Asia, EY, Music Tribe, and star startup Paismo, which recently raised $1.3 million in seed funding. Additionally, our supercommunity member Blink has also successfully raised $2.1 million in seed funding just this month.
Always looking for new ways to enrich the startup ecosystem, Daftarkhwan hosted multiple events like Techstars and Paklaunch meet and greet where our supercommunity could network and seize novel business and investment opportunities. Eager to share what we’ve learnt, our co-founder and CEO, Saad Idrees, addressed the Marketing Association of Pakistan, and Daftarkhwan collaborated to bring the startup ecosystem major events such as ITCN Asia’ 23, Google Lift Off, and Four Days Festival, an exhibition exploring metaverse bodies in this fast paced age.
We also hosted fireside chats with Natasha Noorani, Mystapaki, Susie Kahlich and Alisha Haque-Burns, exploring their unique journeys and experiences while experts like Stephen Brobst, Ali Murtaza and Obaid Arshad shared their expertise on AI, design and e-commerce through insight sessions and their very own series.
Daftarkhwan partnered up with prominent organizations such as P@SHA, Google Developer Group, Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) and OPEN Silicon Valley, to empower founders to take the lead and surge towards disruption by becoming a part of and representing a broader conversation about innovation and entrepreneurship. Additionally, we worked towards the wellbeing of our inclusive community by partnering with organizations such as Marham, Roomy, MICADR and Nordic International School.
This year, Daftarkhwan has hurtled towards growth and disruption by initiating 2 new sites, becoming the first and only coworking space to be in a Special Technology Zone, welcoming impressive new members to its diverse supercommunity and forging prized partnerships that have further enriched our ecosystem. Let’s step into 2024 together and take the lead to make another year a resounding success!
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