Startup dreams drowned by economic woes?

As a country, Pakistan is all about momentary triumphs followed by prolonged periods of adversity. This permeates all spheres of our lives, be it moments of brilliance on the cricket field or symbolic wins for democracy. Even the startup ecosystem is beholden to the same patterns where any good news is sandwiched between long bouts of gloom. Not so long ago, the ecosystem did get that solitary moment of joy when the news of Sadapay’s acquisition by Turkish unicorn Papara was confirmed. Finally, there was an exit event in the venture capital (VC)-funded space worthy of attention, though not without caveats. After all, the deal put the fintech’s price around $30-50 million, including the $10m in capital injection. This was at a steep discount to the company’s last valuation, meaning many of the investors walked away without making any money.