What happened: According to the Pakistan Startup Ecosystem Report 2021, which was released on March 15, startups in Pakistan have raised PKR Rs.42.9 billion ($563.5 million) in 255 deals since 2015, with $350 million raised in 83 deals in 2021 alone. Details: Invest2Innovate’s Insights team acquired data from 150 businesses, 17 investors, and 20 entrepreneurial support organisations through surveys, and then triangulated it with 52 interviews with founders, investors, support organisation executives, and legislators. What you need to know: A great majority of investors choose to invest in early-stage firms, according to Invest2Innovate. This corresponds to recent investment trends as the majority of deals in 2021 were pre-seed ($32 million funded across 14 deals) and seed ($123 million raised across 46 deals). The pattern confirms that a shortage of finance for enterprises in later phases of their growth life cycle may be an emerging issue when startups reach that level.