China's Gobi Partners enters Pakistan

“We believe the conditions that led to the growth of giant online travel agencies in China are also present in Pakistan,” Thomas Tsao, Gobi’s founding partner, said in a statement. “Sastaticket has a real opportunity to become one of the first unicorns out of the country.”

Sastaticket positions itself as Pakistan’s largest one-stop shop for travel services and the largest online travel agency by flight booking volume. The company claims its platform is experiencing a 155% year-on-year increase in number of orders and handling more than one million flight searches per month.

Pakistan’s travel segment is dominated by small independent agencies that charge expensive service fees and was estimated to account for 2.9% of total GDP in 2017 at $8.8 billion. According to Sastaticket, the market is set to grow at a rate of 5.8% a year, reaching $16.4 billion by 2028.

Investor interest in Pakistan has persisted despite ongoing security difficulties as well as political and cultural tensions with India. Recent activity in the emerging venture market includes a fund launch by local firm Lakson Investments, a $20 million fundraise for the government’s Punjab Technology Fund, and the acquisition of e-commerce company Daraz by Alibaba Group.

Earlier this month, a UK-based investor focused exclusively on Pakistan known as Sarmayacar reportedly reached a first close for a VC fund that is targeting $30 million. Its first three investments include online music streaming platform Patari, payments platform provider Simpaisa, and ProCheck, a company that focuses on reducing drug counterfeiting in the pharmaceuticals industry.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Early-stage
• Consumer
• Pakistan
• Gobi Partners
• TMT
• Venture