No. 1
The Frontier List 2026
All 27 honoreesTwenty seven founders, engineers and scientists under forty whose work is changing what Pakistan's technology industry can do, from supply chains and payments to semiconductors and prosthetics.
No. 2
Saad Jangda
No. 3
Muhammad Saad
No. 4
Kasra Zunnaiyyer
No. 5
Muhammad Owais Qureshi
No. 6
Wahaj Ahmed
No. 7
Talha Ansari
No. 8
Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai
No. 9
Sarfraz Shahid Hussain
No. 10
Maheera Abdul Ghani
No. 11
Syed Ismail
No. 12
Hamza Ali Hakeem
No. 13
Sarkhail Shahid Bawany
No. 14
Aleena Nadeem
No. 15
Iman Jamall
No. 16
Hasib Malik
No. 17
Halima Iqbal
No. 18
Muhammad Zayan Khan
No. 19
Shershah Hassan
No. 20
Waleed Amjad Islam
No. 21
Adeel Abid
No. 22
Aizaz Nayyer
No. 23
Ali Raza
No. 24
Anas Niaz
No. 25
Nabeel Siddiqui
No. 26
Yaseen Khalid
No. 27
Muhammad Saquib Malik
How ABHI went from a salary advance app to owning a bank
Founded in Karachi in 2021, ABHI sold early pay as an employee benefit, raised a Series A at a $90 million valuation, issued Pakistan's first fintech sukuk and bought a microfinance bank.
Latest
Hamza Ali Hakeem: Building Beyond Technology, Investing in Pakistan's Future
From digitizing millions of land records to developing agricultural financing solutions, the Group CEO of AOS and cofounder of Zaraat Dost is pursuing a long term vision built around technology, disciplined investment, and the transformation of traditional industries.
Pakistani freelancers post record $197 million month in September
IT freelancers brought in about $197 million in a single month, the most on record, lifting first quarter earnings to $550 million.
Leading at 23: Inside Zayan Khan's Rise to Technology Leadership in Pakistan
From Durham University to heading Development and Artificial Intelligence at Zaraat Dost, Muhammad Zayan Khan is part of an emerging generation of technology leaders seeking to reshape Pakistan's traditional industries through software engineering, artificial intelligence, and digital innovation.
IT ministry plans to back 20 women led startups a year through WISE Lab
The proposed Women Innovation and Startup Empowerment Lab would also train 200 female micro entrepreneurs every year in digital tools.
Daraz courts sellers and brands at two summits ahead of 11.11
The marketplace brought more than 1,200 merchants and brand representatives together in Karachi and Lahore. It was its first seller summit in three years.
The materials scientist who built a science nonprofit between experiments
Maheera Abdul Ghani finished a Cambridge PhD on two dimensional semiconductors in 2025. The same year, the organisation she cofounded for Pakistani girls won a Nature award.
Five NIC Lahore startups join Plug and Play's Silicon Valley fall batch
Entropy & Co., Heyeve, Hsieh AI, Recruit AI and elevAID will spend three months in the accelerator, backed by Ignite funding of Rs5 million each.
ModulusTech and the house that fits on a truck
Three NED graduates set out to shelter refugees with a flat pack home. The customers who actually paid were schools, farms, a clinic and, eventually, a net zero neighbourhood in Karachi.
Startups
All startup storiesModulusTech and the house that fits on a truck
Three NED graduates set out to shelter refugees with a flat pack home. The customers who actually paid were schools, farms, a clinic and, eventually, a net zero neighbourhood in Karachi.
Saraaf wants to be the exchange for Central Asia's stone, cotton and ore
A Karachi onyx exporter is trying to become a sourcing platform for the whole region. Television gave it a record valuation. Delivering the money, and the app, has proved harder.
Retailo raised $60 million to sell to corner shops in three countries. It kept one
Three Careem alumni launched a B2B marketplace in Karachi in 2020, raised faster than any Saudi seed before it, and by 2023 had pulled back to Riyadh.
How BridgeLinx raised Pakistan's biggest seed round in nine months, and what came after
Four founders, a cement factory's trucking problem and a $10 million cheque co led by 20VC. Five years on, the company is still private, still in Lahore and much quieter.
How Trukkr went from matching trucks to lending to them
A Karachi marketplace for freight found that its customers' real shortage was working capital, raised $6.4 million, and got a licence to fix it.
KalPay: the Pakistani lender that chose profit before scale
A Shariah aligned buy now pay later service launched into a cash economy just as borrowing costs soared. It survived by raising little, working with merchants and lending for school fees.
Linkstar gave Pakistan's freelancers a free website, then bought a Dubai jobs board
Three childhood friends from Karachi raised SOSV money on a subscription pitch, claimed 50,000 users and acquired Oliv. By 2025 the original platform appears to have closed.
How a Karachi workshop found buyers for a two thousand dollar bionic arm
Bioniks has no venture round to its name. It grew on sales, donors, government orders and prizes, and in 2026 it is leaning on an oil company to reach patients who cannot pay.
News
All newsIT ministry plans to back 20 women led startups a year through WISE Lab
The proposed Women Innovation and Startup Empowerment Lab would also train 200 female micro entrepreneurs every year in digital tools.
Daraz courts sellers and brands at two summits ahead of 11.11
The marketplace brought more than 1,200 merchants and brand representatives together in Karachi and Lahore. It was its first seller summit in three years.
Five NIC Lahore startups join Plug and Play's Silicon Valley fall batch
Entropy & Co., Heyeve, Hsieh AI, Recruit AI and elevAID will spend three months in the accelerator, backed by Ignite funding of Rs5 million each.
FIA traces Rs120 billion in suspected gambling payments through shell firms
JazzCash has closed or suspended more than 100 aggregator accounts as investigators examine how single member companies moved money through wallets and banks.
Freelancers association and HBL sign deal on banking services
The Pakistan Freelancers Association and Habib Bank Limited will work on foreign currency accounts, payment tools and financial literacy for freelancers.
Solar Pakistan 2026 opens in Karachi with more than 350 companies
The three day exhibition at the Expo Centre brings firms from 15 countries together to show solar, storage and smart grid technology.
TPL Insurance becomes JazzSure as Jazz builds its insurance arm
Three months after Jazz took a 76.33 percent stake, the listed insurer has a new name and a role as underwriter for JazzCash and FikrFree.
KissanPay launches loans against stored crops for farmers
Kissan Gudam and aik by BankIslami have launched a Shariah compliant agri fintech platform that lets farmers borrow against commodities held in storage.
Profiles
All profilesHamza Ali Hakeem: Building Beyond Technology, Investing in Pakistan's Future
From digitizing millions of land records to developing agricultural financing solutions, the Group CEO of AOS and cofounder of Zaraat Dost is pursuing a long term vision built around technology, disciplined investment, and the transformation of traditional industries.
Leading at 23: Inside Zayan Khan's Rise to Technology Leadership in Pakistan
From Durham University to heading Development and Artificial Intelligence at Zaraat Dost, Muhammad Zayan Khan is part of an emerging generation of technology leaders seeking to reshape Pakistan's traditional industries through software engineering, artificial intelligence, and digital innovation.
The materials scientist who built a science nonprofit between experiments
Maheera Abdul Ghani finished a Cambridge PhD on two dimensional semiconductors in 2025. The same year, the organisation she cofounded for Pakistani girls won a Nature award.
From Careem's Karachi general manager to a Riyadh startup for corner shops
Wahaj Ahmed ran Careem's Karachi business at 25, left McKinsey in June 2020 and cofounded Retailo, which raised about 45 million dollars in its first 18 months.
From a British bank to Karachi freelancers and a Dubai job platform
Adeel Abid left Banco Santander to cofound Linkstar, then took the commercial seat at Oliv in Dubai. His Karachi company has since gone quiet.
The LUMS graduate who took an onyx exporter to Shark Tank and Forbes
Syed Ismail joined two stone exporters in 2021 and made Saraaf the most talked about deal on Shark Tank Pakistan. Whether the money arrived is disputed.
The operator behind Linkstar, the free website company that left little trace
Ali Raza ran operations for a startup that built portfolio sites for freelancers, won a place on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia, and then went quiet.
Aizaz Nayyer wanted to build Shopify for freelancers
The Daraz marketer and LUMS graduate cofounded Linkstar in 2022, raised money from SOSV and ended up running a Dubai careers portal. His own site has since gone dark.
Companies
All people and companies
Earned wage access and embedded finance
ABHI
Digital infrastructure and government technology
AOS
B2B commerce and fintech
Bazaar Technologies
Medical devices and prosthetics
Bioniks
Digital freight marketplace
BridgeLinx
Fintech
CreditBook
B2B commerce
Dastgyr
Education finance
EduFi
Fintech, Shariah-aligned buy now pay later
KalPay
Freelancer tools
Linkstar
Sustainable housing and construction technology
ModulusTech
Consumer fintech
Oraan
Finance automation and AI agents
Plouton AI
B2B commerce
Retailo
B2B commodity sourcing
Saraaf
Logistics fintech
Trukkr
Science and research
WinSci Pakistan
Agricultural finance and geospatial technology