i2i Ventures

i2i Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund based in Pakistan, primarily investing in pre-seed and seed stage technology startups. The fund launched with $15 million in initial capital and subsequently secured an additional $3 million from institutional investors including the IFC and We-Fi, bringing its total raised capital to $18 million. Its portfolio includes companies such as Oraan, Abhi, Truck It In, and Mauqa Online, with Oraan alone reaching over 2 million Pakistani women with financial products. Building on the experience of its sister organization Invest2Innovate, which has trained approximately 1,000 entrepreneurs, i2i Ventures provides hands-on support to founders. The firm was founded in 2019 by Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi. Its business model centers on i2i Ventures operates as a venture capital fund, generating returns through equity investments in early-stage companies. The fund is supported by institutional investors including the IFC and We-Fi.

i2i Ventures is a Pakistan-focused early-stage venture capital fund that has positioned itself as a hands-on investor backing audacious founders tackling the country's most pressing problems.[1][5] Founded in 2019, the firm operates as the investment arm of Invest2Innovate, a broader ecosystem organization that has been supporting Pakistan's startup landscape since 2011.[5] With a sector-agnostic approach but a laser focus on large market opportunities within Pakistan, i2i Ventures deploys initial checks ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 into pre-seed and seed-stage companies.[1] The firm's philosophy centers on identifying exceptional founders with curiosity, ambition, and the capability to build transformative businesses, rather than betting solely on business models or market timing.

What distinguishes i2i Ventures from traditional venture capital is its integrated support ecosystem. Beyond capital deployment, the firm provides hands-on mentorship through its bench of operators and experts, facilitates fundraising and strategic guidance, and leverages its sister entity i2i Insights to deliver user research and data-driven insights to portfolio companies.[1] This post-investment support model reflects a conviction that writing checks is insufficient—the firm's founders believe early-stage companies need operational scaffolding to scale effectively. The team brings over a decade of direct experience working with Pakistani startups, giving them deep market knowledge and local credibility.[5]

High-Level Overview

Mission and Investment Philosophy

i2i Ventures invests in early-stage, high-growth, technology-enabled businesses in Pakistan that address significant market opportunities.[1][2] The firm's core mission is to nurture innovation and entrepreneurship by backing bold founders solving the country's biggest problems.[3] Rather than adhering to rigid sector mandates, i2i Ventures remains sector-agnostic, allowing the team to pursue opportunities across diverse verticals as long as they demonstrate substantial market potential and exceptional founding teams.[1]

The investment philosophy prioritizes founder quality above all else. For pre-seed investments, the firm focuses primarily on the founding team and market opportunity; at the seed stage, due diligence expands to include initial traction and financial metrics.[1] However, the firm's stated preference is for founders who are curious, think ambitiously, understand their knowledge gaps, and possess the temperament to build category-defining companies.[1]

Key Sectors and Market Focus

While sector-agnostic, i2i Ventures concentrates on technology-enabled businesses addressing large market opportunities specific to Pakistan's economy and demographics.[1][2] The firm's investment thesis implicitly targets sectors where Pakistan's young, digitally-native population and growing middle class create substantial addressable markets—though specific sector specializations are not heavily emphasized in favor of founder-led discovery.

Impact on the Startup Ecosystem

i2i Ventures operates within a broader ecosystem context through its parent organization, Invest2Innovate, which has been a pioneering force in Pakistan's startup space for over a decade.[5] By combining capital deployment with structured support programs, research capabilities, and talent optimization services, the firm contributes to ecosystem maturation. The firm's willingness to co-invest and bring other venture funds into deals demonstrates a collaborative rather than competitive posture, strengthening the overall venture capital infrastructure in Pakistan.[1]

Origin Story

i2i Ventures was founded in 2019 as the dedicated investment vehicle of Invest2Innovate, an organization that had already spent eight years building the Pakistan startup ecosystem.[5] The founding team includes co-founders and general partners Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi, both based in Karachi.[4] The creation of i2i Ventures represented a strategic evolution for Invest2Innovate—while the parent organization focused on ecosystem enablement through programs and research, the dedicated venture fund would deploy capital directly into promising early-stage companies.

This structure reflects a deliberate design choice: separating the investment function from ecosystem support programs allows i2i Ventures to operate with investment discipline while maintaining access to Invest2Innovate's research arm (i2i Insights) and network effects.[1] The firm's first fund closed in July 2024, marking a maturation milestone for the organization.[4] The timing of i2i Ventures' launch in 2019 coincided with accelerating venture capital activity in Pakistan, positioning the firm to capture a wave of founder-led innovation in a market previously underserved by institutional capital.

Core Differentiators

Integrated Post-Investment Support Model

Unlike traditional venture capital firms that primarily provide capital and board-level guidance, i2i Ventures operates a comprehensive support infrastructure. The firm maintains a bench of operators and experts who conduct office hours, AMAs (Ask Me Anything sessions), and hands-on technical support for portfolio companies.[1] This model acknowledges that early-stage founders in Pakistan face acute challenges around talent acquisition, strategic positioning, and user validation—problems that capital alone cannot solve.

Sister Entity Research Advantage

i2i Insights, the research arm of parent organization Invest2Innovate, provides i2i Ventures portfolio companies with user research, market insights, and data-driven growth acceleration support.[1] This creates a competitive moat: the investment team makes better-informed decisions using proprietary research on Pakistan's startup landscape, while portfolio companies gain access to institutional knowledge that would otherwise require expensive external consultants.

Talent Optimization Focus

Recognizing that talent acquisition and optimization represents one of the most acute challenges for Pakistani startups, i2i Ventures explicitly supports portfolio companies with sourcing, hiring, and talent pool optimization.[1] This hands-on approach to human capital addresses a structural constraint in the Pakistani startup ecosystem where competition for technical talent is intense.

Collaborative Investment Approach

Rather than pursuing winner-take-all deal dynamics, i2i Ventures actively co-invests with other venture funds and brings additional investors into deals.[1] This collaborative posture strengthens the broader venture ecosystem while reducing concentration risk for the firm.

Deep Local Market Knowledge

The team's decade-plus of direct experience working with Pakistani startups provides contextual understanding that international venture firms cannot easily replicate. This local expertise informs both investment selection and post-investment support.[5]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

i2i Ventures operates at the intersection of several powerful macro trends reshaping Pakistan's economy. The country's young demographic profile—with a median age around 22 years—creates a massive cohort of digitally-native consumers and potential founders.[5] Simultaneously, Pakistan's internet penetration has expanded dramatically, mobile-first adoption is nearly universal, and remittances from diaspora communities create capital availability for entrepreneurship.

The firm's existence signals that Pakistan's startup ecosystem has matured sufficiently to support dedicated venture capital vehicles. Prior to 2019, early-stage funding in Pakistan was fragmented across angel networks, family offices, and international venture firms with limited local presence. i2i Ventures' launch and subsequent fund close in 2024 indicate that institutional capital now recognizes Pakistan as a viable venture market with sufficient founder quality and market opportunity to justify dedicated investment vehicles.

The firm's emphasis on technology-enabled solutions to local problems reflects a broader shift away from pure arbitrage plays (e.g., replicating successful US business models in Pakistan) toward indigenous innovation addressing Pakistan-specific challenges. This positioning aligns i2i Ventures with global trends favoring locally-rooted venture capital that understands regulatory environments, consumer behavior, and competitive dynamics in specific geographies.

By maintaining a collaborative stance and publishing research through i2i Insights, the firm contributes to ecosystem transparency and knowledge-sharing—functions that strengthen the overall venture capital infrastructure in Pakistan and reduce information asymmetries between founders and investors.

Quick Take & Future Outlook

i2i Ventures represents a maturing phase in Pakistan's venture capital evolution. The firm's 2024 fund close and growing team (including investment associates and senior roles) suggest the organization is scaling its deployment capacity and building institutional depth. As Pakistan's startup ecosystem continues to produce category-defining companies—particularly in fintech, e-commerce, and enterprise software—i2i Ventures is positioned to capture early-stage ownership in breakout founders.

The firm's future trajectory will likely depend on several factors: the performance of its current portfolio (which will validate its founder selection thesis), the ability to deploy capital at scale while maintaining investment discipline, and the broader macroeconomic stability of Pakistan. If the firm's portfolio companies achieve meaningful exits or reach unicorn status, i2i Ventures will establish a track record that attracts larger follow-on funds and positions the organization as a tier-one venture capital player in South Asia.

The integration of research, ecosystem support, and capital deployment creates a defensible model that international venture firms cannot easily replicate. As Pakistan's startup ecosystem matures, this integrated approach—combining financial returns with ecosystem contribution—may become a template for venture capital in emerging markets where founder support infrastructure remains nascent. i2i Ventures' influence will likely extend beyond its direct portfolio, shaping how the broader Pakistani startup ecosystem thinks about founder support, talent optimization, and market validation.