Once touted as the market leader in q-commerce in Pakistan, Airlift is now shutting down operations in the country owing to its inability to raise new money.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Airlift informed employees on Tuesday evening that it would be shutting down its operations in the country on Wednesday.
A close source told ProPakistani that the business was seeking to raise a fresh round as recently as last week, but “several” investors advised the firm that it will take at least two months to collect the money.
The source added that “In the next 30 days, airlift will work on releasing severance and closing its liability stream to mark a complete shutdown of operations, the offboarding process has already started. The senior management was notified about it three days ago.”
Back in May 2022, Airlift had pulled out of certain markets, including Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria in order to reduce the area of operations and to increase focus on key areas that drive sustainability and profitability.
Airlift operated a quick commerce service in eight Pakistani cities, including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The startup raised $85 million in the country’s largest Series B funding round in August at a valuation of $275 million.