Saudi digital payments company barq has closed a $329.5 million Series A at a valuation of $1.85 billion. Noon Investments, Sohar International Bank and M20 Fund took part in the round. barq plans to spend the money on new products, on running its operations more efficiently, and on moving into markets outside Saudi Arabia. Farooq now runs barq PK, the group's Pakistani arm, as Managing Director.
TiE Islamabad has announced a strategic partnership with Sehat Kahani under the Digitalization for Women's Economic Empowerment program, supported by UN Women Pakistan and KOICA.
Founder Institute Cohort 5 held a session at NIC Islamabad on product development, with mentors discussing validation, MVPs, and the role of AI in building products.
Starline Accelerator has opened admissions for a free 12-week program supporting IT startups and innovative teams across Central Asia, offering mentoring, MVP development resources, investment pitch deck preparation, and direct investment opportunities from AP Tajikistan and AP Astana investment fund.
National Incubation Center Karachi successfully hosted a hands-on MVP Development session led by Imran Batoaq from YOTTABYTE, covering iterative product development, user feedback, informed pivoting, and prototype creation to help startup founders build market-aligned solutions.
Bahria University Karachi Campus Business Incubation Center, in collaboration with the Department of Software Engineering and Global Entrepreneurship Network Pakistan, hosted a training session covering startup pitching, MVP development, business formalization, and international opportunities in Malaysia.
NIC Karachi, in collaboration with Product Soch, conducted Product Sprint 2.0, helping founders validate ideas and create MVP blueprints. Cohort 15 applications are now open.
Saudi digital payments company barq has closed a $329.5 million Series A at a valuation of $1.85 billion. Noon Investments, Sohar International Bank and M20 Fund took part in the round. barq plans to spend the money on new products, on running its operations more efficiently, and on moving into markets outside Saudi Arabia. Farooq now runs barq PK, the group's Pakistani arm, as Managing Director.
TiE Islamabad has announced a strategic partnership with Sehat Kahani under the Digitalization for Women's Economic Empowerment program, supported by UN Women Pakistan and KOICA.
Pathfinder CITADEL has formalized a collaboration with Eligient across LegalTech, startup enablement, and strategic innovation, aiming to create new opportunities across the ecosystem.
NICAT has unveiled its Hatch 08 cohort, featuring six founders building ventures spanning consumer platforms, sustainability, email verification, and workflow automation.