Pakistani startups Haball, PostEx on Forbes Asia 100 to Watch 2025 List

 August 28, 2025 (MLN): Pakistani startups, Haball and PostEx, have been named to Forbes Asia’s “100 To Watch” list for 2025. Both companies are part of Zayn VC’s portfolio.

The Forbes Asia 100 To Watch list, now in its fifth year, highlights emerging startups and small companies across the Asia-Pacific region.

Haball, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Karachi, is led by Omer Bin Ahsan. Forbes describes the company as a B2B fintech platform providing Shariah-compliant supply chain financing and payment solutions to Pakistani businesses.

Its offerings include digital invoicing, tax compliance, and working capital financing.

To date, Haball reports having processed over $3bn in payments. In April 2025, the startup secured $52m in a pre-Series A funding round, with $5m in equity led by Zayn VC and $47m in strategic financing from Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s largest Islamic bank.

PostEx, established in 2020 and also based in Karachi, is led by CEO Muhammad Omer Khan. Originally a delivery service, PostEx has evolved into a hybrid logistics and fintech company serving Pakistan’s largely cash-driven e-commerce sector.

The company provides upfront cash payments to online merchants while managing collections from customers upon delivery, helping sellers maintain cash flow and streamline logistics.

In 2022, PostEx acquired rival Call Courier, becoming the largest e-commerce delivery service in Pakistan. Last August, it raised $7.3m in a pre-Series A funding round led by Conjunction Capital to fuel expansion into the Middle East.

Zayn VC, which shared the update on LinkedIn, emphasized that this recognition “highlights the incredible work of these founders and showcases the growing impact of startups from our region on the global stage.”

The fund also noted that this is the second consecutive year Zayn VC-backed companies have made the list, following NayaPay in 2024. DealCart, a 2022-founded online grocery startup, was also included in last year’s edition.

Founded by Pakistani-American entrepreneur Faisal Aftab in 2021, Zayn VC is a US- and Cayman-domiciled venture capital fund investing in early-stage Pakistani startups.

Forbes notes that VC funding across the Asia-Pacific region hit a ten-year low by the end of 2024 but has seen renewed interest in certain countries in 2025. A KPMG report cited India, Japan, and Singapore as drawing increasing risk capital this year.

This year’s Forbes Asia 100 To Watch includes companies from 16 countries and territories, with India leading with 18 companies, followed by Singapore and Japan (14 each), China (9), Indonesia and South Korea (8 each), and Australia (7).

The list primarily features startups in fast-growing sectors such as biotechnology, space tech, and green tech, including companies developing gene-editing therapies, new lithium-ion battery materials, and novel spacecraft propulsion systems. Collectively, the 100 companies have raised nearly $3bn in funding, up from $2bn by last year’s cohort.

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