Lahore: Pakistan-based AI startup Metal, founded by Airlift co-founder Usman Gul, has raised $4.5 million in seed funding in a round led by a16z Speedrun and Y Combinator, marking another major milestone for Pakistan’s growing startup ecosystem.
Usman Gul, who serves as Metal’s founder and CEO, announced the funding after building the company around a problem he experienced firsthand while raising capital for Airlift. During Airlift’s fundraising journey, the team raised approximately $120 million across six venture rounds and interacted with around 300 investors.
Metal is developing an AI-native operating system for fundraising, designed to help startup founders identify relevant investors, conduct investor research and manage venture capital workflows more efficiently. The platform aims to use proprietary intelligence to determine which investors are most suitable for a particular company and funding round.
The latest funding round also attracted participation from Pioneer Fund, Rebel Fund, Gaingels, Indus Valley Capital, Team Ignite Ventures and Phaze Ventures, among other investors.
According to Gul, Metal is tracking toward multi-million-dollar annual revenue in FY2026. The company has also recorded six consecutive quarters of growth ranging between 30% and 80% quarter-over-quarter, highlighting strong momentum since its launch.
Metal’s core idea is to move beyond traditional investor databases. Its platform seeks to create what the company describes as an “investor memory layer”—an intelligence system that continuously develops an understanding of investors, their strategies, preferences and relationships.
The company says this technology can help founders determine not only which investors to approach, but also why a particular investor may be relevant, when to approach them and how to establish the most effective connection.
Metal was founded in 2024 and is based in Lahore, Pakistan. Y Combinator says more than 100 YC founders have signed up as paying customers, while the company is backed by both Y Combinator and a16z.
The new investment is expected to support Metal’s continued development of AI-powered fundraising and investor-relations tools as the company seeks to establish itself as infrastructure for the broader private capital market.
