June Newsletter from Orbit Startups

Friends of Orbit,

What a hectic month it's been: we held a three-day demo day in Dubai, got to see Abeokuta's buzzing tech scene, and caught up with our founders in Pakistan, where Orbit was named the most active investor in 2022 by Magnitt. Rewatch our demo day including the panel discussion on MENA's investment outlook here, and see you at our next events.

Until next time,

Orbit Startups

ORBIT IN THE NEWS

Motorcycle marketplace?iMotorbike?raises $2.6M to strengthen operations in Malaysia and Vietnam,?Forbes?reports.

Having invested in mobile-first markets such as China, India, and Indonesia for the last 2 decades, William Bao Bean discusses the lessons learned and how Orbit's companies are applying those frameworks to emerging and frontier markets as well as bringing them to the US. Full talk on?VivaTech.

Pakistan Today?announces?Okayker's?$700,000 seed round to digitize car services, targeting MENAP's $90 billion opportunity gap.? Nashit Naviwala , Okayker CEO, reflects on the industry’s stagnation: “Most workshops and auto parts retailers still rely on archaic pen-and-paper methods as they did 40 years ago.”

Disrupt Africa covers Tappi's being inducted into Orbit's latest cohort. Tappi, founded by Kenfield Griffith , helps small businesses build an online storefront in under 2 minutes. The startup?is serving Africa’s 45 million SMEs, which provide about 80% of jobs across the continent.

EVENTS

To accommodate investor interest, our invitation-only demo day has expanded to include an ecosystem?networking mixer and an Investor Day, where VC firms continue?to meet with Orbit's portfolio companies.?Rewatch?our demo day?and read?Tech in Asia's announcement of the cohort.

Meanwhile, Orbit COO Ching-Ping Lin gave a packed masterclass on effective pitching at?Abeokuta Innovation & Tech Party?(AITP), the first tech festival in Africa's emerging tech hub. AITP was organized by the Ogun state government and Orbit-backed GetFundedAfrica, a platform that has helped over 300 startups raise more than $400M in total.

Oscar Ramos discussed the role of technology in helping millions achieve economic independence at?Leaders in Islamabad?2023?and caught up with Orbit's Pakistan-based companies.?Magnitt?recently named Orbit Startups the most active investor in Pakistan and the 3rd most active investor in Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and Turkey in 2022.?