KalsoomLakhani

Kalsoom Lakhani, 39, is a force to reckon with in the Pakistani startup space. In 2011, long before Pakistan became a favored startup destination, Lakhani founded Invest2Innovate (i2i), which has been supporting entrepreneurs in the country via an accelerator and other programs. Invest2Innovate has also released research & insights on the Pakistan market since 2017. I2i has so far graduated 46 startups that have gone on to raise over $7.5 million and created over 2,000 jobs. I2i has also worked with Facebook and the World Bank to design and launch programs to support incubators and accelerators in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In 2019, Lakhani co-founded i2i Ventures, a $15 million VC fund that invests in pre-seed and seed-stage technology-enabled startups based in Pakistan. The fund — which is the first female-founded VC fund in Pakistan — has invested in 11 startups, including the bookkeeping app CreditBook, which became Tiger Global’s first investment in Pakistan last year.