- The company warned employees Tuesday night that it will close Wednesday, sources say.
- The company raised $85 million in August’s largest Series B investment.
- Airlift, once hailed as the market leader in q-commerce in Pakistan.
Airlift, once hailed as the market leader in q-commerce in Pakistan, is now ceasing operations in the country due to a lack of new funding.
According to sources, Airlift told staff Tuesday night that it will close on Wednesday.
SBP raises rate 1.25 percent
A source informed BOl News that the company was trying to raise money as recently as last week, but “many” investors said it would take at least two months.
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”.
Airlift announced its closure hours after the news broke. This decision affects many stakeholders and an expanding technology ecosystem.
Airlift was one of the first corporations in emerging markets to reform corporate operations.
- an immediate reduction in headcount,
- shutting down operations across all expansion markets, and
- revision in platform configurations to ramp up monetization (i.e. introduction of higher prices and delivery fees).
Airlift was able to achieve order-level profitability, maintain size, and reduce financial burn by 66%. Airlift was three months from operating profitability in July 2022 and 6-9 months from company-level profitability (i.e. Free Cash Flow).
In May, one of Airlift’s investors led the company’s Series C1 fundraising, according to a press statement. The potential lead has helped us find other investors for the round. First Round Capital, Indus Valley Capital, Buckley Ventures, 20VC, and others wrote large cheques.
Early in July, The company had a clear route to close the round and sent paperwork to all investors for signatures. Several parties acknowledged uncertainties in wire timelines and payments last week, which indicated the Company’s capital requirements would not be reached. Round failed.
Airlift could not risk leaving its employees unpaid or reneging on its agreements, the company said. The Board chose not to leave colleagues unpaid after repeated calls. The foregoing became evident to our management team and investors on July 7th, a day before Pakistan’s Eid vacation.
The statement continued, “As part of our plans, Airlift will ensure that all of its employees are sufficiently protected and catered for – this includes supporting teammates with two (02) months of payroll for July and August, setting up a job placement platform, and creating support systems for aspiring entrepreneurs within our team who may be interested in starting new ventures.”
Our team will contact proactively with suppliers, vendors, and other third parties to manage arrears and liabilities during our shutdown.
Airlift dropped out of Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Pretoria in May 2022 to minimize operations and focus on sustainability and profitability.
Pakistan’s energy crisis worsens as $1 billion in bids go unclaimed LNG Tender Airlift served eight Pakistani cities, including Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. In August, the business raised $85 million in the country’s largest Series B fundraising round.
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