Maria Imran 
Women Entrepreneurs in Pakistan Making a Difference in 2025
The economic story in the country is being rewritten by Pakistani women entrepreneurs even though the country is ranked 151 among 153 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index. Women are breaking the social norms and redefining industries such as AI, fintech, agritech, and healthtech with the help of microfinance-enabled neighborhood stores, and globally-funded technology startups. Having 5.6 million women now using microfinancing to start businesses and female-owned businesses that are drawing millions in international venture capital, the entrepreneurial life in Pakistan is undergoing a female leadership that has never been experienced before, leading to innovation, job creation, and the emerging generation of inspiration.
Tech Pioneers Breaking Global Barriers
The co-founder of ADDO AI, which is an artificial intelligence consultancy and based in Singapore, deploying smart city systems and data strategies to governments across the globe, and advising institutions on ethical AI application, is Dr. Ayesha Khanna. Sidra Qasim, founder of Atoms, a New York-based footwear company with a minimalist focus that raised more than 12 million venture money, is a company that brought Pakistani craftsmanship to the rest of the world.
Fatima Rizwan co-founded MetaSchool, a school that educates developers in blockchain and Web3 in South Asia having transformed TechJuice into the most popular tech news in Pakistan. Her mission allows the knowledge gap in new technologies to be filled by providing an accessible but practical learning.
Fintech and Edtech Innovators
The Forbes 30 Under 30 of 2024, Aleena Nadeem, started EduFi in an attempt to offer flexible digital financing to help talented students in underserved communities overcome barriers. Her platform is collaborating with schools to facilitate the process of education loans such that individuals who could not afford to study at the university are able to study at universities.
Healthtech and Wellness Leaders
As the Co-Founder and CEO of AimFit, Mahlaqa Shaukat is changing the accessibility of fitness to Pakistani women by introducing wellness programs that are based on technology. Having raised one million dollars through the help of the international investors, AimFit is providing a home-based guided workouts and fitness sessions with a focus on female empowerment and health among South Asian women who are culturally prohibited against joining a gym.
Agricultural Transformation
Pak Agri Market is an agritech firm that was established by Ayesha Ahmad to enable farmers to have direct contact with their buyers and suppliers at the expense of the middlemen by eliminating middlemen exploitation of farmers by ensuring price transparency. Her digital applications assist small scale farmers (most of whom are women) in accessing markets, financial inclusion within Pakistan big sizable workforce.
Females who have been trained under the potato value chain project with CABI are now involved in all the production processes in a way that they are able to communicate with the input suppliers, overseeing field operations and educating others on how to develop long term agricultural production businesses.
Grassroots Success Stories
A 58-year old widow, Arza Parveen, who lost her husband in war, created a kiryana (general store) in her neighborhood using a microfinance loan provided by Kashf Foundation, and now makes a regular monthly income, as she has an example to follow. Anila Naz, a hairdresser in Islamabad restored her COVID-ravaged beauty salon with the help of HBL Microfinance Bank to announce that she used to be a zero, but now a hero.
Saeeda Begum of Rawalpindi started Shining Little Stars which is a handmade garments company that deals with smocked frocks and children wear due to the death of her husband. She has currently hired and trained six women herself offering quality control and skills advancement in spite of being offered inappropriate market options and cultural limitations as a single parent.
After Better Cotton GIF provided Meghi with kitchen gardening training, she turned half an acre of land into a successful vegetable garden due to 2022 catastrophic monsoons. Outside having to feed her family of eight children, she has now started selling produce to the local stores, which provides them with an education, and she is no longer a housewife but she is now an entrepreneur on her own.
Ecosystem Building
Kalsoom Lakhani created Invest2Innovate (i2i), where she was able to fund, mentor, and accelerate more than 120 young Pakistani and frontier market entrepreneurs. Her platform also links Pakistani startups with the international investors, and provides different representation through paying attention to women-led businesses.
With Better Cotton Growth and Innovation Fund, eight sewing centers were established by CABI that empowered women in remote Matiari with sewing machine, raw material, and entrepreneurial skills. Master trainers developed a chain of empowerment wherein 10 women in each village were taught, which empowered them economically, gave them confidence and leadership skills and developed a space where they could further their skills.
These women entrepreneurs demonstrate that women in the lead change whole industries changing the base of a more inclusive, innovative, and successful Pakistan.
