Maqsad has announced a successful $2.8 million seed funding round. This oversubscribed round was led by Speedinvest, a prominent European venture capital firm, with participation from returning investor Indus Valley Capital, Stellar Capital, Alter Global, Johann Jenson (SVP Product at GoStudent), and other strategic angels.
Founded in 2021 by Rooshan Aziz and Taha Ahmed, Maqsad’s mission is to democratize education for Pakistan’s 100 million students. Their mobile platform provides a comprehensive learning experience, encompassing teaching materials, testing functionalities, and a robust query resolution system (DoubtSolve) focused on grades 9 through 12.
This funding round brings Maqsad’s total capital raised to $4.9 million, solidifying their position as Pakistan’s most well-funded EdTech startup. The capital will be strategically invested in expanding subject offerings and further enhancing the platform’s technological infrastructure.
Maqsad currently operates as a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) platform, but their vision extends beyond. They actively pursue partnerships with both public and private sector institutions, aiming to become a cornerstone of the Pakistani education ecosystem.
“Maqsad offers students an exceptional learning experience at a fraction of the cost,” emphasizes co-founder Taha Ahmed. “Our core mission is to address student needs. We’ve gathered feedback from over 20,000 students and teachers nationwide to ensure our platform effectively improves learning outcomes.”
Maqsad recently bolstered its assessment features, empowering students to confidently self-evaluate. This initiative has yielded impressive results, with a consistent month-on-month growth of over 150% in the number of questions attempted by users.
“We’re laser-focused on delivering personalized learning experiences at scale,” says co-founder Roshan Aziz. “We have exciting initiatives in the pipeline, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to further enhance our platform.”
The Maqsad app has achieved remarkable success in a short period. Within the last six months, it has surpassed 1 million downloads, addressed 4 million student queries, and consistently ranked as the #1 education app on Pakistan’s Google Play Store.
Pakistan’s education sector presents a significant opportunity, with projected annual spending reaching $37 billion by 2032. A significant portion of this expenditure goes towards expensive and often inaccessible after-school academic support. Furthermore, Pakistan grapples with a high student-teacher ratio, with only one teacher for every 44 students.
Maqsad’s query resolution technology (DoubtSolve) and interactive testing features address these challenges head-on, providing valuable support to students who lack access to quality instructors.
“We invested in Maqsad because of their potential to impact the lives of millions of students and revolutionize the education ecosystem,” explains Philip Specht, Partner at Speedinvest. “We are incredibly impressed by Rooshan and Taha’s leadership and believe Maqsad is poised to become one of Pakistan’s most successful businesses.”
Speedinvest, with over €1 billion ($1.06 billion) in capital, invests in pre-seed, seed, and early-stage tech startups globally. They are one of Europe’s largest seed funds and boast an EdTech unicorn, Vienna-based GoStudent, in their portfolio.
Indus Valley Capital, a Pakistan-focused early-stage VC firm with deep Silicon Valley roots, also reiterated their confidence in Maqsad. “Our initial investment predated the development of their product or team,” shares Aatif Awan, Founder of Indus Valley Capital. “We were captivated by Rooshan and Taha’s vision for education in Pakistan. Re-investing in Maqsad was an easy decision. They have assembled a phenomenal team and built a category-leading product that has empowered over a million students.”
Indus Valley Capital has a strong track record of being the first VC investor in prominent Pakistani startups like Bazaar and Bridgelinx. Their continued support for Maqsad signifies their belief in the company’s potential to transform the Pakistani education landscape.
