Pakistani Ed-tech startup Maqsad has secured $2.8 million in seed funding led by Speedinvest and returning investor Indus Valley Capital. The oversubscribed funding round also saw participation from Stellar Capital, Alter Global, Johann Jenson, and other strategic angels. Maqsad’s end-to-end learning mobile platform provides teaching, testing, and query resolution for grades nine to 12 with the aim of making education accessible for 100 million Pakistani students. The capital will be primarily used to expand the subject offering and enhance the technology behind the platform.
Maqsad’s long-term vision is to embed itself across the education ecosystem and has received interest from private and public sector institutions for potential partnerships. The company has already received positive feedback from over 20,000 students and teachers across Pakistan. Maqsad’s personalized learning experience at scale and AI-based initiatives in the pipeline are aimed at offering an exceptional learning experience for students at a fraction of the cost.
In the last six months, the Maqsad app has been downloaded over a million times, answered four million student queries, and has consistently ranked as the number one education app in Pakistan on the Google Play Store. With a forecasted annual spend of $37 billion by 2032, education presents a substantial opportunity in Pakistan. Maqsad’s query-solving technology (DoubtSolve) and interactive testing resolve a key problem for students who lack access to quality instructors due to Pakistan’s high student-teacher ratio of one teacher for every 44 students.
Philip Specht, partner at Speedinvest, believes Maqsad has the potential to touch the lives of millions of students and disrupt the education ecosystem. Speedinvest has invested in other edtech startups such as Vienna-based GoStudent. Indus Valley Capital’s Founder Aatif Awan is impressed with Maqsad’s progress and vision for education in Pakistan. Indus Valley Capital has previously invested in other top Pakistani startups such as Bazaar and Bridgelinx.
Maqsad’s innovative approach to education and personalized learning experience at scale has positioned the company as Pakistan’s best-funded edtech. The startup has already achieved significant milestones, and the latest funding round will enable Maqsad to further expand its offerings and technology while making education accessible for millions of Pakistani students.
