Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi

i2i Ventures co-founders

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi are the co-founders of i2i Ventures, an early-stage fund that invests at pre-seed and seed stage. Lakhani decided to start Invest2Innovate in 2011, and she said i2i Ventures opened its doors in August 2019. Naqvi worked at Citigroup, Acumen and a fintech startup before she decided to join Lakhani.

Early life and background

Lakhani was born in Dubai to a Bangladeshi mother and a Pakistani father. She lived in Dhaka from 1988 to 1994 and moved to Islamabad at age 11, finishing high school there. Her mother wanted the family to settle in Islamabad rather than Karachi because Karachi was too dangerous in the 1990s. Lakhani's father is a serial entrepreneur and has a free hospital in Islamabad. [1]

Naqvi was born in Karachi, and her father served in the Navy. She also grew up in Islamabad in the 1980s. She lived in Paris for a few years while her father was posted there. [1]

Education

Lakhani graduated from high school in 2000 and then went to the University of Virginia for college. Her undergraduate major was Middle East studies and foreign affairs, and she fell in love with politics as soon as she got to college. She got into film school but went to a liberal arts school instead. She holds a master's degree in conflict resolution and went to graduate school in Washington DC. Naqvi did an MBA at IBA. [1]

Early career of Lakhani

Lakhani took a job in defense contracting, which she described as the opposite of conflict resolution. She stayed in the job because her work visa tied her to it. She started a current affairs blog on Pakistan called Changing Up Pakistan. She moved into venture philanthropy, which takes a venture approach to philanthropy. [1]

Invest2Innovate

Lakhani left her job and decided to start Invest2Innovate in 2011. She said that working with founders one at a time was a poor business model because founders could not pay. She said founders have always been at the center of the company's work. She has said Invest2Innovate started Pakistan's first startup accelerator. [1]

Lakhani said Invest2Innovate had about $6,000 in its bank account when it started its accelerator. LUMS gave Invest2Innovate space for free. The first accelerator batch ran in 2012, and the accelerator ran over six weekends across four months. [1]

Lakhani said Invest2Innovate is now a healthy and profitable business, and that its income now comes from project-based contracts. Naqvi has been involved with Invest2Innovate at an advisory level since its 2011 launch. [1]

Career of Naqvi

Naqvi graduated in 1997 and started at Citigroup in Pakistan in corporate banking. At Citigroup, she worked in transaction banking and corporate finance. She said that at Citigroup she was going through the motions and pursuing goals that were not her own. She said she did not want her boss's job at Citigroup. She also worked closely in the CEO's office and worked with the Citigroup Foundation on its projects in Pakistan. [1]

Naqvi joined Acumen, where she met Lakhani. She said that at Acumen the idea was to invest patient capital. At Acumen, she was hired by the country manager and built the team together. She went into the field to visit bastis and kachi abadis, and she moved with Acumen from Pakistan to its New York office. [1]

Naqvi joined a fintech startup focused on a global two-factor authentication product and was employee number two at that startup. She said the startup built products in markets including Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, South Africa, Tanzania and the Middle East. She planned a sabbatical after about 20 years of work. She was on the State Bank working group for the legislation that let startups set up holding companies abroad. [1]

i2i Ventures

Lakhani had been a solo founder for eight years and did not want to build the fund alone. She said the fund was born out of understanding founders very well, and that she saw founders get very poor terms from investors. Naqvi's sabbatical lasted two months instead of a year because she decided to join Lakhani. Lakhani had known Naqvi for 15 years when they started the fund. Lakhani said i2i Ventures opened its doors in August 2019. [1]

Naqvi said i2i Ventures is an early-stage fund that invests at pre-seed and seed stage. She said its mandate is set by stage, not by sector, that it is founder driven, and that it invests in have-to-have problems. She said it had just approved its 13th investment. Lakhani said i2i Ventures is the only female-led fund in the country. [1]

Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in Abhi, an earned wage access company, and in Metric. She said it has also invested in Safepay, which builds payments for e-commerce merchants, EdKasa, an EdTech company focused on exam prep, and Truck It In, a freight logistics company. She named further investments in a company that works with MSMEs in the credit chain, a female-first fintech company, an agritech company, a company that brings groceries through a group buying model, and a communications platform for B2C and B2B customers. [1]

Views

Lakhani said a place that is hard to do business in should still get support for its potential. She said she wants the startup ecosystem to include more women and people without foreign degrees. She also said she wants a healthy, thriving startup ecosystem, not just a surviving one. [1]

The co-founders said not every company has to raise venture money, and founders should match their capital to their business. They said some companies may be better off with patient impact investors or revenue-based financing. They said they entered venture capital to not be business as usual. One of the co-founders said venture money can ruin some sectors. [1]

Naqvi said banks have not been incentivized to invest in individuals and SMEs, and that credit models are only as good as the data put into them. She said Pakistan is a cash-loving society and that the government needs to encourage merchants to digitize payments. Lakhani and Naqvi said RAAST could be a game changer but has been slow to get off the ground. Naqvi said fintech is a broad space with many verticals, so many players operate in it, and that Pakistan's fintech market is fragmented because players solve the problem in different ways. [1]

Timeline

1988
Lakhani began living in Dhaka, where she stayed until 1994.[1]
1997
Naqvi graduated and started at Citigroup in Pakistan.[1]
2000
Lakhani graduated from high school and went on to the University of Virginia.[1]
2011
Lakhani decided to start Invest2Innovate.[1]
2012
Invest2Innovate ran its first accelerator batch.[1]
2014
Invest2Innovate published Pakistan's first ecosystem report, according to Lakhani.[1]
2019
i2i Ventures opened its doors in August, according to Lakhani.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2022-11-11 Pakistan's first female-founded VC fund on what's broken Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi?

Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi are the co-founders of i2i Ventures, an early-stage fund that invests at pre-seed and seed stage. Lakhani also decided to start Invest2Innovate in 2011. Naqvi worked at Citigroup, Acumen and a fintech startup before she decided to join Lakhani.[1]

What company did Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi found?

Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi co-founded i2i Ventures, which Lakhani said opened its doors in August 2019. Lakhani had known Naqvi for 15 years when they started the fund. Lakhani also decided to start Invest2Innovate in 2011.[1]

Where did Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi study?

Kalsoom Lakhani went to the University of Virginia for college and majored in Middle East studies and foreign affairs. She also holds a master's degree in conflict resolution. Misbah Naqvi did an MBA at IBA.[1]

What does i2i Ventures invest in?

Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures is an early-stage fund that invests at pre-seed and seed stage. She said its mandate is set by stage, not by sector, and that it invests in have-to-have problems. Kalsoom Lakhani said it is the only female-led fund in the country.[1]

What is Invest2Innovate?

Invest2Innovate is the company Kalsoom Lakhani decided to start in 2011. She has said it started Pakistan's first startup accelerator, and its first accelerator batch ran in 2012. She said it is now a healthy and profitable business.[1]

What did Misbah Naqvi do before joining Kalsoom Lakhani at i2i Ventures?

Misbah Naqvi started at Citigroup in Pakistan in corporate banking and joined Acumen, where she met Kalsoom Lakhani. She joined a fintech startup focused on a global two-factor authentication product. Her planned sabbatical lasted two months instead of a year because she decided to join Lakhani.[1]

References

  1. Pakistan's first female-founded VC fund on what's broken . Thought Behind Things , 2022-11-11.
Show the source passages (88 statements)
  1. Kalsoom Lakhani was born in Dubai to a Bangladeshi mother and a Pakistani father. I was born in Dubai, um, and my mom is from Bangladesh, my dad is from Pakistan
  2. Kalsoom Lakhani's mother wanted the family to settle in Islamabad rather than Karachi because Karachi was too dangerous in the 1990s. her one condition to my dad when we were moving the kids to Pakistan was that Karachi was too dangerous in the 90s, so Islamabad it is
  3. Kalsoom Lakhani lived in Dhaka from 1988 to 1994. Dhaka, I was there from '88 to '94.
  4. Kalsoom Lakhani moved to Islamabad at age 11 and finished high school there. moved to Islamabad um when I was 11 and I graduated from high school here
  5. Kalsoom Lakhani's father is a serial entrepreneur. my dad is a serial entrepreneur
  6. Kalsoom Lakhani's father has a free hospital in Islamabad. He actually has a free hospital here in Islamabad, did a feeding program
  7. Kalsoom Lakhani graduated from high school in 2000 and then went to the University of Virginia for college. I graduated in 2000 from the International School here and then I went to the University of Virginia for college in America.
  8. Kalsoom Lakhani's undergraduate major was Middle East studies and foreign affairs. my major was in Middle East studies and foreign affairs
  9. Kalsoom Lakhani fell in love with politics as soon as she got to college. I fell in love with politics the minute I got to college
  10. Kalsoom Lakhani got into film school but went to a liberal arts school instead. Um, so went to a liberal arts school instead, even though I did get into film school
  11. Kalsoom Lakhani holds a master's degree in conflict resolution. I did my master's in conflict resolution
  12. Kalsoom Lakhani went to graduate school in Washington DC. I went to grad school in Washington DC
  13. Kalsoom Lakhani took a job in defense contracting, which she described as the opposite of conflict resolution. ended up getting a job in defense contracting, which is the opposite of conflict resolution
  14. Kalsoom Lakhani stayed in her defense contracting job because her work visa tied her to it. I was there because I had a work visa and I couldn't really get out of it because I had a visa
  15. Kalsoom Lakhani started a current affairs blog on Pakistan called Changing Up Pakistan. I started a current affairs blog on Pakistan called Jup or Changing Up Pakistan
  16. Kalsoom Lakhani moved into venture philanthropy, which takes a venture approach to philanthropy. I moved into venture philanthropy, which is kind of, um, taking a venture approach to philanthropy
  17. Kalsoom Lakhani left her job and decided to start Invest2Innovate in 2011. that's really where Invest2Innovate was born. So I left um my job then and decided to start in 2011
  18. Kalsoom Lakhani said a place that is hard to do business in should still get support for its potential. just because you exist in a place that might be hard to do a business doesn't mean we don't we shouldn't support that potential
  19. Kalsoom Lakhani said that working with founders one at a time was a poor business model because founders could not pay. realized that's a terrible business model because no one can afford to pay you when they're starting out their business
  20. Kalsoom Lakhani has said Invest2Innovate started Pakistan's first startup accelerator. we started Pakistan's first startup accelerator at the time
  21. Kalsoom Lakhani said Invest2Innovate had about $6,000 in its bank account when it started its accelerator. we had like I think like $6,000 in our bank account at the time
  22. LUMS gave Invest2Innovate space for free. LUMS gave us space for free.
  23. Invest2Innovate's first accelerator batch ran in 2012. This was in 2012, the first batch ever.
  24. The Invest2Innovate accelerator ran over six weekends across four months. It became six weekends over four months.
  25. Invest2Innovate first worked in Bangladesh after other groups asked it to help build accelerators there. can you help us build our accelerator in Bangladesh? And that's how we worked in Bangladesh for the first time
  26. Kalsoom Lakhani said Invest2Innovate published Pakistan's first ecosystem report in 2014. That was the first ecosystem report that came out about Pakistan in 2014.
  27. Kalsoom Lakhani said founders have always been at the center of Invest2Innovate's work. the center of everything has always been founders
  28. Kalsoom Lakhani said Invest2Innovate was not very lucrative for its first seven years. it was not a very lucrative business for the first seven years of the company
  29. Kalsoom Lakhani said a lot of Invest2Innovate's funding came from corporate sponsors of its accelerator. A lot of it was corporate sponsors, individual. It was corporate sponsors of the accelerator.
  30. Kalsoom Lakhani said Invest2Innovate received contracts from the Australian government, the World Bank, the IFC and Facebook. we would get contracts from Australian government, the World Bank, the IFC, um Facebook
  31. Kalsoom Lakhani said Invest2Innovate is now a healthy and profitable business. Now, mashallah, we've built like a healthy business and it's healthy and profitable in terms of these large contracts
  32. Kalsoom Lakhani said Invest2Innovate's income now comes from project-based contracts. We have contracts that come in and it is from that angle project-based.
  33. Kalsoom Lakhani had been a solo founder for eight years and did not want to build the fund alone. I knew I didn't want to do it alone. So that's really, um, you know, I had been a solo founder at that point for eight years.
  34. Kalsoom Lakhani said the fund was born out of understanding founders very well. It was born out of saying like, hey, actually, we understand founders really, really well.
  35. Kalsoom Lakhani said she saw founders get very poor terms from investors. I would see all these amazing founders get these really bad terms from investors, right?
  36. Kalsoom Lakhani said i2i Ventures opened its doors in August 2019. We opened our doors in 2019, August of 2019.
  37. Kalsoom Lakhani said i2i Ventures is the only female-led fund in the country. as the only female led fund in the country, we've invested in women led companies
  38. Kalsoom Lakhani said she wants the startup ecosystem to include more women and people without foreign degrees. I would love to see the status quo start to move towards being more inclusive, generally not just towards women, but also people that may not have an outside degree
  39. Kalsoom Lakhani said she wants a healthy, thriving startup ecosystem, not just a surviving one. I would love to see a space that is when when I talk about a healthy and growing startup ecosystem that is thriving, so not just surviving
  40. Misbah Naqvi was born in Karachi, and her father served in the Navy. I was born in Karachi. My father was in the Navy, so luckily we went the only places we went back and forth was Karachi and Islamabad.
  41. Misbah Naqvi also grew up in Islamabad in the 1980s. So I also grew up in Islamabad back in the '80s.
  42. Misbah Naqvi lived in Paris for a few years while her father was posted there. We lived in Paris for a few years, my father was posted there
  43. Misbah Naqvi did an MBA at IBA. went to IBA. So I often say like I I did my MBA back when MBAs were cool
  44. Misbah Naqvi graduated in 1997 and started at Citigroup in Pakistan in corporate banking. graduated in '97, um and started working with City Group in Pakistan on the corporate banking side
  45. At Citigroup, Misbah Naqvi worked in transaction banking and corporate finance. Uh worked in transaction banking, worked in corporate finance.
  46. Misbah Naqvi said that at Citigroup she was going through the motions and pursuing goals that were not her own. I was going through the motions and kind of aspiring towards things now in hindsight that I think were around me but were not driven by me
  47. Misbah Naqvi said she did not want her boss's job at Citigroup. I don't want my boss's job. I'm not excited about the things my peers are excited about
  48. Misbah Naqvi worked closely in the CEO's office. it gave me an opportunity to work in the CEO's office very closely with him
  49. Misbah Naqvi worked with the Citigroup Foundation on its projects in Pakistan. work with Citi Group Foundation for their projects in Pakistan
  50. Misbah Naqvi joined Acumen, where she met Kalsoom Lakhani. Acumen, which I ended up joining, which is uh which is how Kulsum and I met
  51. Misbah Naqvi said that at Acumen the idea was to invest patient capital. at the time, the idea was to to uh invest patient capital
  52. At Acumen, Misbah Naqvi was hired by the country manager and built the team together. The country manager at the time uh uh sort of hired me for this role and we built the team together
  53. While at Acumen, Misbah Naqvi went into the field to visit bastis and kachi abadis. I got a chance to go into the field, to go into bastis, to sit in kachi abadis
  54. Misbah Naqvi moved with Acumen from Pakistan to its New York office. I then moved with them from Pakistan to New York. I was in the New York office for a while
  55. Misbah Naqvi joined a fintech startup focused on a global two-factor authentication product. I actually joined a Fintech startup that was focused on a global uh product around two-factor authentication
  56. Misbah Naqvi was employee number two at that startup. I was employee number two in a startup
  57. Misbah Naqvi said the startup built products in markets including Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, South Africa, Tanzania and the Middle East. we were building in markets like Pakistan and India, but Afghanistan as well, South Africa, Tanzania, Middle East
  58. Misbah Naqvi planned a sabbatical after about 20 years of work. I wanted to take a sabbatical and I just thought I'd take a step back after 20 years
  59. Misbah Naqvi has been involved with Invest2Innovate at an advisory level since its 2011 launch. So since 2010, well, 2011 when we launched, uh I've been involved with I2I at a advisory level
  60. Misbah Naqvi's sabbatical lasted two months instead of a year because she decided to join Kalsoom Lakhani. the sabbatical did not end up being a year, it ended up being two months because I decided to join Kulsum as she was
  61. Kalsoom Lakhani had known Misbah Naqvi for 15 years when they started the fund. doing it with Misbah who I'd known for 15 years at that point
  62. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures is an early-stage fund that invests at pre-seed and seed stage. So I2I Ventures is an early stage fund um in technical terms, we invest at pre-seed and seed stage
  63. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures' mandate is set by stage, not by sector. while our mandate is specific in terms of stage, it's not specific in terms of sector
  64. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures is founder driven. that we're really founder driven from that perspective
  65. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has just approved its 13th investment. we've just approved our 13th investment
  66. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in Abhi, an earned wage access company. we've invested in Abhi, which is earned wage access
  67. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in a company that works with MSMEs in the credit chain. CreditBook, which is working with uh in the in the credit chain with MSMEs
  68. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in Metric. we've invested in Metric that you already mentioned
  69. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in a female-first fintech company. Oran, which is focused, which is a female first um Fintech focused on starting with committees and then building other products for women and beyond
  70. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in Safepay, which builds payments for e-commerce merchants. Safepay, which is building payments for e-commerce merchants
  71. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in an agritech company. we've invested in Taza, which is in Agritech
  72. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in a company that brings groceries through a group buying model. we've also invested in DealCart, which is looking at bringing groceries in a in a group buying model
  73. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in EdKasa, an EdTech company focused on exam prep. We've invested in Edkasa, which is in EdTech, um and is focused on helping students with exam prep
  74. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in a communications platform for B2C and B2B customers. we've also invested in TeleTalk, which is a communications platform, both B2C, uh but also B2B
  75. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures has invested in Truck It In, a freight logistics company. Truck It In, obviously you interviewed Sarma. This is the logistics space, so they look at freight.
  76. Misbah Naqvi said i2i Ventures invests in have-to-have problems. we invest in have to have problems
  77. Kalsoom Lakhani and Misbah Naqvi said RAAST could be a game changer but has been slow to get off the ground. I think it could really be a game changer. I think it's been really slow to get off the ground.
  78. Misbah Naqvi said banks have not been incentivized to invest in individuals and SMEs. banks have not uh been incentivized to invest in individuals and SMEs
  79. Misbah Naqvi said credit models are only as good as the data put into them. So you have to get good data in to get good data out
  80. Misbah Naqvi said Pakistan is a cash-loving society. We're a cash we're a cash loving society. We love cash.
  81. Misbah Naqvi said the government needs to encourage merchants to digitize payments. the government needs to acknowledge that and if we really want to bring about electronic payments in a big way, there needs to be uh incentivization of digitization at the merchant end
  82. Misbah Naqvi said fintech is a broad space with many verticals, so many players operate in it. We see a lot of players in Fintech because Fintech is a very big space
  83. Misbah Naqvi said Pakistan's fintech market is fragmented because players solve the problem in different ways. I think it is fragmented in Pakistan because people are trying to solve the problem in different ways
  84. The co-founders said not every company has to raise venture money, and founders should match their capital to their business. we often tell founders like everyone doesn't have to raise venture money, but you should identify what kind of investment is right for you
  85. The co-founders said some companies may be better off with patient impact investors or revenue-based financing. it might be way better off with patient impact investors. It might be way better off with revenue-based financing
  86. The co-founders said they entered venture capital to not be business as usual. we entered venture capital to not be business as usual
  87. One of the co-founders said venture money can ruin some sectors. venture money kind of ruins some sectors, honestly
  88. Misbah Naqvi was on the State Bank working group for the legislation that let startups set up holding companies abroad. all of a sudden startups could set up holding companies abroad. And that happened um in, you know, last year, the State Bank legislation, right? And Misbah was actually on the working group for that.