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Tag: tech investment

  • Pakistan Takes 20 Tech Startups to TechCrunch Disrupt in Silicon Valley

    Pakistan Takes 20 Tech Startups to TechCrunch Disrupt in Silicon Valley

    Pakistan brought 20 technology companies to TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, pitching American venture funds and commercial clients across three days at Moscone West.

    The delegation set up a national pavilion at the annual startup conference from October 13 to 15, seeking direct commercial contracts and cross-border investment.

    Silicon Valley delegation

    Participating firms exhibited enterprise software, digital consumer tools, and custom IT services to early-stage founders and venture capital firms. Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, visited the pavilion on October 15 to review commercial pitches and meet founders.

    Sheikh told company delegates that diplomatic missions across the US will provide direct operational support to help Pakistani tech founders establish client networks and corporate partnerships in North America.

    Commercial push in North America

    For South Asian software houses and startup founders, breaking into the US enterprise pipeline remains essential for dollar-denominated revenue. Indian IT exporters established this corridor decades ago, and Pakistani founders are now attempting to replicate that access by presenting engineering teams directly to Silicon Valley buyers.

    The structural challenge lies in conversion rates. Trade delegations and pavilion booths deliver visibility, but landing enterprise software contracts requires local corporate entities, US-based sales leads, and strict compliance structures that early-stage teams often lack.

    Regional export ambitions

    Islamabad has stepped up state-backed trade missions over the past year to lift software and IT services exports. Similar trade delegations pitched digital services in Riyadh earlier in the cycle, following domestic infrastructure drives including new tech parks backed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    Diplomatic missions in Washington and San Francisco will now track follow-up commercial contracts signed by the 20 participating firms as Pakistan prepares its next bilateral investment delegations ahead of the November minerals and industry forums in Islamabad.

  • SoftBank Shares Fall 13% as OpenAI and Anthropic Urge Caution

    SoftBank Shares Fall 13% as OpenAI and Anthropic Urge Caution

    SoftBank Group shares tumbled 13 per cent in Tokyo after artificial intelligence developers OpenAI and Anthropic urged market caution.

    The sell-off hit the Japanese conglomerate’s portfolio valuation immediately. Its holdings remain heavily weighted toward generative technology and semiconductor assets.

    Reassessing tech exposure

    Traders dumped the stock after commentary from the two foundation-model leaders cooled expectations for rapid commercial monetization. SoftBank spent recent quarters shifting capital into frontier model creators and computing infrastructure. That strategy tied its balance sheet directly to the artificial intelligence buildout.

    Holding companies with concentrated tech bets take the brunt when model builders forecast slower timelines. SoftBank’s trading multiple relies heavily on private asset valuations. That leaves little cushion during sector pullbacks.

    Valuation risk across portfolio holdings

    Institutional investors across Asian markets now face the fallout from aggressive hardware and software bets. Regional peers have largely favored diversified balance sheets and disciplined corporate software rollouts over pure-play generative startups.

    A major risk lies in the gap between heavy capital expenditure commitments and verifiable enterprise revenue. When model developers lower operational targets, secondary market liquidity for portfolio firms dries up fast.

    Market pressure mounts in Tokyo

    Past quarters saw SoftBank aggressively shift cash out of mature holdings to fund new technology bets. That redeployment concentrated risk into a narrow band of private tech assets rather than stable cash-generating operations.

    Trading desks in Tokyo are watching SoftBank’s next portfolio disclosure to see whether the group recalibrates its deployment pace or maintains existing investment targets.