On Thursday, Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company (PKIC) made a Rs500 million equity investment in Planet N, a technology investment platform.
This is Pakistan’s largest equity investment in a technology investment platform by a local financial institution. This investment will enable Planet N to extend its activities and will encourage other investors to look for ways to build and boost the country’s tech entrepreneurship and disruption.
PKIC is Pakistan’s leading development finance institution, with total assets of over Rs107 billion and equity of over Rs38 billion.
Planet N has invested in and supported technology start-ups such as Tapmad TV, Dawaai.pk, PublishEx, Tez Financial Services, Datalift, PiePie, Kashat, and JinglePay that operate in a variety of countries including Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Singapore, and the United States. It presently owns over 30 firms in the financial inclusion, fintech, digital media, data science, and artificial intelligence sectors.
Mubashar Maqbool, managing director of PKIC, stated that the company would continue to help critical sectors of the economy, particularly the burgeoning technology industry, using both traditional and creative financing options.