Special Report: Peeking into the tech Palantir

EVERY year, the finance industry, both in Pakistan and elsewhere, races to make strategy and outlook documents about how the economy will shape up. It’s a ritual — one that takes up our social media feed and dominates media consumption even if the reality turns out to be starkly different. Maybe that’s the adult version of pretending to have a Palantir, but who among us can claim not to have indulged in a bit of fantasy? At least, I am about to. Before we get into how 2024 will shape up to be, it’s important to look back. For those in positions of power, maybe reflect a little too? The overarching theme throughout the year was the shortage of dollars, as the rupee saw a historic single-day devaluation in January alone. It was a pretty good indication of how things will turn out for the rest of the 11 months. For Pakistan’s startup ecosystem, the decline in investment was steep as funding value dipped to almost $75 million in 2023 from $332m the year before. Investors who, until recently, couldn’t stop hyping up the local market had suddenly disappeared from deals and focused all their energies on imparting wisdom at conferences instead. Now the question is: will it be more or less the same in the coming year?