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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan technology startup RemoteBase has raised $1.4 million, equivalent to approximately 22 crore rupees in a seed investment round led by Indus Valley Capital.
RemoteBase connects Pakistani software engineers and developers with Silicon Valley companies, giving international exposure to Pakistani talent. The seed round, which is one of the biggest for any Pakistani company was led by Aatif Awan of Indus Valley Capital who has significantly invested in the tech ecosystem of Pakistan. Awan was a former Vice President at professional networking app, LinkedIn, before entering the field of venture capitalism.
Commenting on his latest investment, Aatif Awan said: “Remotebase is a crucial piece of the puzzle for the Pakistani tech ecosystem to earn its well-deserved place in the world. As tech companies go remote, Remotebase can help Pakistani talent fulfill this demand and gain experience with the best startups around the world.
“Over time this will also materially increase the supply of experienced tech professionals in the country, benefiting all local companies. We’re thrilled about our mission alignment with RemoteBase and are excited to back them,” he added.
RemoteBase was founded less than a year ago by tech entrepreneurs Qasim Asad Salam and Talha Masood. The company capitalised on the pandemic and created a win-win situation for Silicon Valley companies who needed access to talented developers and for Pakistani developers who got the chance to learn from the best companies in the world.
Qasim, who has also worked in Silicon Valley said that Pakistani talent was at par with the best engineers with the world but do not have the right guidance or opportunities.
US billionaire Tim Draper, who has invested in Skype, Twitter and Hotmail, has invested in the Pakistani startup hoping that it has the potential to significantly disrupt the tech ecosystem.
RemoteBase enables Pakistani software engineers and developers to work directly with Silicon Valley companies, creating a business model which attracted one of the largest investment seed rounds for any Pakistani company.
Pakistan’s tech ecosystem has been growing at a rapid pace and has the potential to earn significant foreign currency whilst also providing lucrative employment opportunities for the youth of Pakistan.
Technology startups have the potential to create high-paying jobs for Pakistani graduates as well as raise foreign exchange revenue for the country. The coronavirus pandemic has further enabled companies to work remotely. RemoteBase finds, hires, trains and places Pakistani software engineers and developers in Silicon Valley companies.
RemoteBase currently has 40 software engineers but the company plans to hire more than 150 Pakistani engineers by the end of 2021 after gaining this investment.
The co-founder of RemoteBase, Talha Masood said, “No individual should be discriminated against in terms of race, colour, nationality or gender and the world should be made more inclusive as a whole.
“Working remotely my entire life with Silicon Valley companies has been an incredible ride. I had immense freedom, meaningful work and I got to learn from the best companies in the world. One went on to become a multi-billion dollar startup. I want other Pakistani engineers to have the same experiences and opportunities I had,” said Talha Masood.
With this fresh round of funding, Remotebase aims to hire more engineers, power Remotebase hackathons, and encourage women to get into tech through Remotebase for Women.
