Seed funding from EMPG propels Lahore-based Daftarkhwan to growth

The parent company of Zameen.com, the Emerging Markets Property Group (EMPG), has contributed seed funding to Pakistan’s co-working startup Daftarkhwan, which plans to double its co-working space within a few months.

According to Daftarkhwan, an investor contributed a seven-figure amount, but the amount raised from just one investor was not disclosed. Besides Walled City Co. of Lahore, the company is not backed by any other investors. In 2018, the company invested in Daftarkhwan, and previously it has backed startups including Airlift, GrocerApp, and Tazah.

Co-working pioneer Daftarkhwan was founded by Saad Idrees and Ahmad Habib in 2016. With five locations in three cities and the ability to accommodate 1,650 users each day, the startup says it has scaled in 2016 and is now hosted in five locations. By the end of the next three months, Daftarkhwan hopes to have 3,000 employees.

With the merger with classifieds giant OLX Group, Daftarkhwan reached unicorn status in 2020 after it acquired brands Lamudi, OLX and Bayut. It also operates Zameen in Pakistan and the Middle East, and has other brands such as OLX and Bayut.

In response to a question about why EMPG chose to invest in Daftarkhwan, Saad said that EMPG is itself in the real estate sector, so the alliance could bring synergy between EMPG and Daftarkhwan.

A co-working startup has not received funding in the past few years before Daftarkhwan. No co-working company raised any funding in 2021, the year Pakistan’s startups raised the most investments, but instead acted as enablers, providing startups with cheap offices.