Airlift, Pakistan’s top delivery startup, announced its permanent closure due to the global recession and recent downturn in capital markets, according to a press release shared by the company on Twitter.
The development was reported by DealStreetAsia hours ahead of the announcement, citing employees present at a team meeting where the decision was communicated earlier during the day.
“While the global recession and recent downturn in capital markets have affected economic activity across the board, it has had a devastating impact on Airlift and rendered its shut-down inevitable. On July 12th, Airlift’s operations will shut down permanently,” the Lahore-headquartered startup said in a statement.
Previous Pull back from Markets
The announcement comes less than two months after Airlift had announced a pullback from several markets, including South Africa and some cities in Pakistan, in late May. The markets Airlift had pulled back from in the initial phase included Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Peshawar, and Hyderabad.
“In light of the significant downturn in global capital markets, Airlift is undertaking a strategic realignment to reduce the surface area of operations and to increase focus in key areas that drive sustainability and profitability,” the company had then said in a statement.
Airlift was reportedly burning more than $5 million a month as of January this year and had a capital of under three months when it announced its withdrawal in May.
The company, however, planned to continue operations in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, the three major urban cities in Pakistan which contributed a significant share of business volume for the startup.
Airlift also reduced its headcount by 31% across all markets.
About Airlift
Airlift operated a quick commerce service in eight Pakistani cities, including Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi.
Users could order groceries, fresh produce, and other essential items, including medicines, from the Airlift website or eponymous app and have it delivered to them in 30 minutes.
The startup which was once seen as the most likely contender to become Pakistan’s first unicorn had raised $85 million in the largest-ever funding round by a local startup in 2021 and was seen as a success story in Pakistan’s startup ecosystem but unfortunately ran into rough weather amid a tough fundraising environment brought on by the global market downturn.