Leading Middle East fund announces $1.5 mln investment in Pakistani electric mobility provider

This undated photo shows employees working on an Electric Bike assembly line at the Zyp Technologies facility in Lahore. (Photo courtesy: Zyp Technologies)

• Funding will help enable Lahore -wide launch of Zyp Techonologies’ electric smart mobility solutions 
• Karachi-based Indus Valley Capital doubled down in Pre-Series A funding round, was joined by several others investors

ISLAMABAD: Shorooq Partners, a leading Middle East investment fund, this month announced $1.5 million investment in Pakistani electric mobility provider Zyp Technologies to help it deploy dozens of battery swap stations and launch more electric bikes in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.
Zyp Technologies, which has an assembly plant in Lahore, is driving mass-market adoption of electric mobility in Pakistan by addressing three key hurdles" high upfront cost, range anxiety and long charging times, according to the company. It has a capacity to produce around 12,000 electric motorcycles a year.
Founded in 2017, Shorooq Partners is a leading alternative investment manager across the Middle East and North Africa region. The firm has built deep sectoral expertise in fintech, platforms, software, gaming, and Web3.0, and has backed market-leading disruptors.
Karachi-based Indus Valley Capital (IVC) also doubled down in the Pre-Series A funding round, aiming to be part of Zyp Technologies' journey to accelerate the shift towards electric mobility in the South Asian country of more than 240 million. IVC was joined by several others investors.
“Today, we announce leading a $1.5M Pre-Series A investment in Zyp Technologies, the company leading the charge in sustainable transportation,” Shorooq Partners said on X. “This funding will enable Zyp to deploy over 60 battery swap stations and launch 1000 electric utility motorcycles in Lahore, Pakistan over the next 12 months, marking a significant milestone in the nation's journey towards environmental sustainability.”
IVC founder Aatif Awan, whose fund led a seed round in Sept. 2023 that helped Zyp Technologies raise $1.2 million, said the Pakistani electric mobility provider had since gone from a prototype to a comprehensive electric mobility solution in Pakistan.
“This includes 4G-connected electric motorbikes for fleets, battery swapping stations and software that brings it all together,” he said. “Zyp bikes have now been driven for over 90,000 kilometers, while getting an excellent 53 NPS (net promoter score) from the riders. We are excited to double down on Zyp.”
Awan said there were 25 million motorbikes in Pakistan and more than half of all households owned one, stressing that electrifying motorbikes was key to solving one of the biggest challenges facing Pakistan: the cost of transportation amid high fuel costs. 
Awan also noted that Pakistan's large cities like Lahore and Karachi also regularly ranked among the most polluted ones in the world, a problem that could be solved by electrifying transport. 
“Electrifying motorbikes will contribute massively to cleaning our air and reducing smog in winter months. This will improve our health and productivity as a nation,” he said. “It's not going to be a single startup that solves this, but everyone in the industry will need to play their part to accelerate the shift towards electric mobility in Pakistan.”