KARACHI: Pakistan’s largest Q-commerce startup Airlift is permanently shutting down its operations in Pakistan, said a press release.

In view of the national and global economic situation, Airlift has announced the permanent closure of its operations.

“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,” said the company.

According to economists, record inflation and high petrol prices have affected the purchasing power of the people, and the deteriorating state of the local economy has also contributed to the closure of Airlift.

Airlift was initially a bus service that later turned into a last-mile delivery service. The company raised $85 million last year, the largest funds by any startup.

The company had closed its operations in Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Hyderabad and Peshawar a few months ago. The company has also laid off about a third of its employees to ease the financial burden.

“Airlift will ensure that all of its employees are sufficiently protected and catered for–this includes supporting teammates with two months of payroll for July and August.”