Skip to main content

Sofizar in Lahore, Turning the Competitiveness Index Upside Down

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Black Swan Start-ups

Abstract

Sofizar-ConstellationCK is an online Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Internet marketing company specialising in online ticket sales and educational services. Sofizar itself was founded in 2004 in Lahore, Pakistan, by Zafar Khan, of the Pakistani-American diaspora. With the support of global networks, in early 2009, Khan partnered with US-based serial entrepreneur Carlos Cashman to launch Sofizar’s sister company, ConstellationCK. The two companies merged soon thereafter, operating out of a shared facility in Lahore, with front offices in the USA, and have developed a strong presence in the global industry for Internet marketing, especially in the highly competitive US market. By 2014, the combined operations of Sofizar-ConstellationCK, together with a more recent spin-off company, OrionCKB, generated some US$30 million in annual revenue and employed approximately 170 people, the majority of whom were located in Lahore. During his freshman year of college, Khan declared to friends that he was going to be a millionaire. He did it.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Copyright information

© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)>

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mahroum, S. (2016). Sofizar in Lahore, Turning the Competitiveness Index Upside Down. In: Black Swan Start-ups. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57727-6_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics