Tech
Shadiyana Raises $800,000 Pre-Seed to Digitize Pakistan’s Rs. 900 Billion Wedding Industry
Pakistan-based wedding technology startup Shadiyana has raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding from Indus Valley Capital (IVC) to further develop its platform and bring much-needed structure to the country’s sprawling Rs. 900 billion wedding industry.
With over 500,000 users, more than 600 vendors, and 30,000 weddings planned to date, Shadiyana is now expanding its reach beyond Islamabad into Lahore and Karachi, positioning itself as the leading wedding planning platform in Pakistan.
“We get a rush from every new booking,” said Neelam Shoaib, Co-Founder and COO of Shadiyana. “That passion is exactly what’s fueling the Shadiyana Wedding Planner App, built to transform Pakistan’s grand yet inefficient wedding ecosystem into something seamless, smart, and truly ubiquitous.”
For Neelam, the need for change became clear years ago when she fell ill during her sister’s wedding, highlighting just how exhausting and chaotic wedding planning can be, even when families spend a fortune. Years later, she and co-founder Izzah Zaman saw an opportunity to build something creative, deeply local, and perfectly aligned with their technical skills.
“Coming from working-class backgrounds, the obvious path (and pressure) was to choose stable jobs and enjoy weekends,” recalled Izzah Zaman, Co-Founder and CEO. “But we loved building things and losing ourselves in that process.” As women, software engineers, and industry outsiders, the founders’ unconventional backgrounds gave them a fresh perspective to rethink the wedding industry from the ground up.
Shadiyana’s newly launched wedding planner app is the first end-to-end platform of its kind in Pakistan, allowing couples to discover, book, and manage vendors from anywhere, with real-time access to resources and planning tools.
“Shadiyana is bringing order, transparency, and trust to one of Pakistan’s largest but most underserved industries,” said Aatif Awan, Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital. “Their customer obsession and founder-market fit make them exactly the kind of team we love to back at Indus Valley Capital. We’re excited to partner with Shadiyana in building the country’s leading wedding platform.”
With a market valued in the billions and millions of weddings celebrated annually, Shadiyana is now poised for its next phase of growth. The company plans to expand its vendor base across more cities, introduce additional technology-driven planning tools, and strengthen its team.
As Shadiyana scales, it remains committed to fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration, attracting talent passionate about shaping the future of wedding planning in Pakistan.
Tech
Samsung May Stop Producing These SSDs Next Year
Samsung may be preparing to step away from SATA SSD production. According to multiple industry reports, the company is planning a long-term exit from SATA SSD manufacturing starting next year.
YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead (MLID) says several sources have told him Samsung will end SATA SSD production entirely after it fulfills existing contracts.
SATA SSDs can feel like older technology as more new laptops and desktops rely on faster NVMe storage. High-end systems have also moved to SAS (Serial Attached SCSI).
Still, SATA SSDs remain common in 2025. They continue to see demand in budget PCs, external storage, and upgrades for older machines. Retail channels also continue to sell SATA SSDs in large numbers.
Samsung is one of the largest suppliers of finished consumer SSDs. MLID says Samsung-made SSDs make up a significant portion of top-selling products on major online retailers, with roughly one-fifth of those listings still using the SATA interface.
If Samsung removes that supply, the impact may extend beyond one product category. The report suggests the move could tighten availability across the broader SSD market, including NVMe drives.
The report lands as memory pricing faces pressure. Samsung has reportedly raised DDR5 memory prices by as much as 60% recently. Micron has also decided to halt its consumer memory business to focus on supplying memory for high-powered AI chips.
The reports suggest end consumers are likely to feel the effects the most.
For now, Samsung has not made anything official. But if the company does exit SATA SSDs, the report suggests SATA drives could become more expensive and harder to find than many expect.
Tech
Pakistan Tops Global Searches for Explicit Content
Pakistan continues to rank at the top globally in searches related to indecent content, despite no longer leading in actual viewership, Director General Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr. Muqarram Ali said while addressing a cybersecurity seminar at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
He said that following PTA’s actions, including large-scale blocking of indecent websites, a clear impact has been observed, and Pakistan is no longer at the top in terms of viewing such content. He added that Pakistan had previously ranked highest in viewership, but sustained enforcement measures have moved the country down from that position.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Muqarram Ali said the PTA is actively working on online child protection and has blocked around 1.3 million indecent websites. He stated that the authority only blocks immoral and unethical material and does not act proactively to shut down websites on its own.
He further said that the PTA often receives contradictory court orders, with one court directing the blocking of a platform while another ordering that it should not be blocked. He added that the authority is bound to follow the prescribed legal and administrative system in such cases.
Referring to the temporary blocking of Wikipedia, the PTA chief said the move triggered an international reaction, after which an inter-ministerial committee was formed to review the issue. He said that the PTA blocks websites strictly on government directives, noting that similar instructions were also issued during previous governments.
Highlighting cyber security developments, Dr. Muqarram Ali said Pakistan has emerged among the top countries in cyber security preparedness. He claimed that during the Pak-India conflict in May, Pakistan won the cyber war and that not a single Pakistani website was taken offline. He also clarified that the PTA does not collect mobile taxes, stating that this responsibility lies with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).
Tech
Apple’s Edge Light Adds A Virtual Ring Light To Your Mac Video Calls: Here’s How To Use It
Apple released a new MacOS update recently. It brings the Edge Light feature to all Apple silicon-powered Macs. Here’s how you can use it on your next video call.
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