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Maqsad operates as an online educational technology platform, delivering comprehensive academic support and test preparation services. The company provides a structured curriculum for university entrance examinations, including MDCAT, ECAT, and BCAT, alongside dedicated courses for O-Levels. Its technical approach integrates live interactive classes, on-demand video lectures, and an extensive repository of practice tests and multiple-choice questions to facilitate student learning.
The company was founded in 2021 by Taha Ahmed and Rooshan Aziz, who were driven by a shared insight into the educational accessibility gaps prevalent in their native Pakistan. Both founders leveraged their prior professional experience in strategy consulting and investment banking in London, opting to return to address critical educational needs within their home country.
Maqsad serves a student demographic predominantly composed of Pakistani learners aspiring to secure admission into competitive higher education programs. The platform's overarching mission is to democratize access to high-quality educational resources, thereby empowering students and aspiring to elevate the overall standard of learning across the region.
Maqsad has raised $5.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Maqsad has raised $5.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Maqsad has raised $5.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Maqsad's investors include Also Capital, Countdown Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, First Round Capital, Global Founders Capital, Index Ventures, Indus Valley Capital, Stellar Capital, Valhalla Ventures, Gerald Parloiu, Alter Global, Ali Mukhtar.
Maqsad has raised $5.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $3.0M Seed in March 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 2023 | $3M Seed | — | Also Capital, Countdown Capital, Dragoneer Investment Group, First Round Capital, Global Founders Capital, Index Ventures, Indus Valley Capital, Stellar Capital, Valhalla Ventures, Gerald Parloiu | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2021 | $2M Seed | Indus Valley Capital | Dragoneer Investment Group, Global Founders Capital, Gerald Parloiu, Alter Global, ALI Mukhtar | Announced |
Maqsad is a Karachi-based edtech startup founded in 2021 that builds a mobile-first learning platform for Pakistani students in grades 9-12, focusing on test preparation for entrance exams like MDCAT, ECAT, and IBA/LUMS admissions.[1][2][3] It serves over 420,000 monthly active users (MAUs) by providing bilingual (English-Urdu) content including practice questions, video solutions, study plans, academic counseling, and an AI-powered DoubtSolve engine that resolves 98% of 12 million+ student queries automatically in under 3 seconds.[1][2] Maqsad solves the problem of costly, inaccessible tuition centers by offering affordable, personalized, scalable education, with over 1 million app downloads and 6 million+ test questions attempted, driving growth through recent seed funding of $2.8 million (largest for a Pakistani edtech) plus prior rounds totaling around $4.9 million in allotments.[1][2]
Maqsad was co-founded in 2021 by Rooshan Aziz and Taha Ahmed, who aimed to revolutionize K-12 learning in Pakistan beyond rote memorization toward real comprehension and equal opportunity for urban and rural students.[1][3] Aziz, speaking to TechCrunch, highlighted the mobile-first approach given 95% of Pakistan's broadband is mobile-based, while Ahmed, a former strategy consultant at LEK, emphasized accessible after-school content.[3] The idea emerged from recognizing gaps in traditional tuition—high costs, lack of transparency, and poor mobile optimization—leading to small pilots in April-May 2021, full operations by July 26, and a mobile app launch in Q4 2021 with an early access waitlist.[3] Early traction included a $2.1 million pre-seed round in late 2021 for content studio development and R&D, followed by seed funding led by Speedinvest and Indus Valley Capital.[1][3]
Maqsad rides the edtech boom in emerging markets like Pakistan, where mobile penetration enables scalable education amid limited access to quality prep for competitive exams.[2][3] Timing aligns with post-2021 funding surge in South Asian edtech, fueled by investor interest in AI-personalized learning and underserved K-12 segments; its $2.8M seed was Pakistan's largest for edtech, signaling ecosystem momentum.[1] Market forces favoring Maqsad include rising smartphone adoption, demand for affordable alternatives to tuition (often costing families significantly), and global shifts to hybrid learning post-pandemic.[2][3] It influences the ecosystem by pioneering AI doubt-solving in MENAP, inspiring localized content models, and catalyzing systemic change toward inclusive education for rural/urban divides.[2]
Maqsad's momentum—420k MAUs, massive query volume, and fresh seed funding—positions it for rapid expansion into more subjects, deeper personalization via AI, and potential regional scaling in MENAP.[1][2] Trends like AI in education, mobile broadband growth, and investor focus on impact-driven edtech will propel it, though challenges in content scaling and competition loom. Its influence may evolve from exam-prep leader to comprehensive K-12 platform, empowering millions to unlock their "maqsad" (purpose) through tech democratizing elite education.[3]
