LUMS alumnus raises $1.4 million for platform connecting Pakistani engineers with Silicon Valley businesses

Remotebase, a 10-month old Lahore-based startup, announced that it had raised a seven-figure seed funding round led by Atif Awan of the Indus Valley Capital; it emerged on Tuesday.

Remotebase was founded in 2020 by Qasim Asad Salam – a LUMS alumnus, and Talha Masood, with the aim of “disrupting the way tech companies work by embracing remote work at the core.” 

“Remotebase exposes Pakistani talent to the entire world, allowing them to learn and work with the best companies in the world. It doesn’t matter where they are from, what is the color of their skin, and which religion or nationality they have, making the entire globe a more inclusive place to live in.”,  the press release said.

“Being a remote worker for most of my life, I was always passionate about enabling people to build companies entirely in the cloud and giving them access to top talent from all around the globe. Where better to start the company than Pakistan. A country where I have personally witnessed an immense amount of talent and super hungry individuals just looking for opportunities to learn and grow.” said Qasim in the press release.

Global exposure for Pakistani engineers

The press release noted that at present Pakistani engineers don’t have significant global exposure, but the startup, which has operations in both the Silicon Valley and Pakistan, will help connect Pakistan-based high-performing engineering teams with US companies.

“Remotebase’s mission is to turn Pakistan into a global tech hub by hiring, training, and then placing engineers in Silicon Valley-based startups. The idea is to give Pakistani engineers exposure to the world’s most innovative companies by deeply integrating them into those companies. Engineers work anywhere between 12-18 months with each company, learn, gather experience, and then have the option of switching to a new Silicon Valley startup.”, the press release said. 

Significantly reducing time to hire engineering teams

In an interview with Techjuice, the startup’s founder, Qasim Asad, said that it usually takes 35 days to hire and set up engineering teams. However, Remotebase will reduce it to 24 hours in a bid to address a key pain point. He also added that the company presently has 30 clients, and 12 engineers are working as of now, but the company plans to add up to 100 engineers by the end of 2021, with the new funding.

Key investors include one of the most successful Silicon Valley VCs of all time

According to the press release, the key investors include Indus valley, a Pakistan-focused early-stage VC fund managed by Atif Awan, with deep roots in Silicon Valley and Tim Draper associates. 

“One of our key investors is Tim Draper, who owns 30,000 BTC – one of the largest collections in the world and was an early investor in a lot of major companies.”, Qasim said while speaking to Techjuice. According to the press release, Tim Draper has invested in over 35 billion dollar companies at the seed stage and is one of the most successful Silicon Valley VCs of all time.

Read More: Pakistani startup Bazaar raises a staggering $6.5 million in a seed funding round.