‘One unicorn does not create an ecosystem’: Gobi Partners Pakistan Managing Partner

Business Recorder interviewed Naiel Oberoi Ikram, Managing Partner at Gobi Partners Pakistan, about the US$1 billion valuation of Fasset, a fintech backed early by Fatima Gobi Venture. Ikram said FGV co-led Fasset's Series A in 2022 and still holds a meaningful minority stake, though it declines to share investment amounts, stake percentages or return data. He attributed the valuation to scale, profitability and regulatory depth, pointing to revenue that has risen about sixfold annually.

Fasset now operates in 125 countries, reports over 3 million wallets and 1,000-plus enterprise clients, and is profitable. Pakistan's startup funding edged up to US$38 million in 2025 from US$32.3 million a year earlier, according to an internal tracker Ikram cited, yet it remained far below the US$347 million recorded in 2021 and US$331 million in 2022. He said the gain came mainly from bigger deal sizes, not wider activity.

Ikram said the main obstacle is the thin supply of follow-on money once a company passes its first institutional round, and that local funds struggle because domestic institutions allocate little to venture. Government securities have long paid double-digit risk-free rupee returns, and the limited record of exits weakens confidence among fund investors. He concluded that a sizeable domestic growth fund able to lead US$20 to 30 million rounds, along with credible exits, is needed before Pakistan can produce unicorns repeatably.