Karachi-based Bazaar Technologies secures $6.5m in seed funding to digitise mom-and-pop stores

With recent funding, Bazaar plans to expand its footprint across Pakistan, build its product capabilities, and offer value-added services to customers

Bazaar, an eight-month-old business-to-business e-commerce marketplace that aims to digitize traditional retail in Pakistan, has raised $6.5 million in seed funding, bringing the entire raised by the startup to $7.8 million in two funding rounds.

 

The announcement from the startup comes to a couple of months after an earlier denial by the corporate that they were raising new investment in seed funding, after Profit published a report in August last year that Bazaar was seeking the maximum amount as $15 million in seed funding from investors.

 

A senior official from Bazaar’s management team had reached bent Profit after the publication of the aforementioned report, flatly denying that Bazaar was within the active process of raising its now disclosed seed round. Profit had then learned from sources that the startup had planned to stay the round undisclosed for a couple of months albeit the round was successful.

 

Bazaar’s $6.5 million seed round was co-led by Germany-based Global Founders Capital, and US-based Indus Valley Capital, which had led the startup’s previously pre-seed round. Other investors within the round included several renowned global investors like S7V, Wavemaker Partners, Derayah risk capital , and Next Billion Ventures, all of whom are making their first investments in Pakistan, consistent with a press release by Bazaar.

 

Existing investor Alter Global also participated within the seed round.

 

According to the startup, the recent round is one of the most important seed rounds raised by a startup within the Middle-East, North Africa, and Pakistan (MENAP) region. Bazaar had earlier raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding in June last year.

 

Moreover, angel investors, including current and former leaders of Careem, a partner at DST Global, and founders of other prominent B2B startups including Maxab (Egypt), Ula (Indonesia), and Sokowatch (Africa) have also joined Bazaar’s board.

 

According to the startup, its mission is to digitize traditional retail in Pakistan. Using the country’s rising mobile adoption, Bazaar aims to empower the many SMEs that dominate the market by providing significant value and convenience through various digital products.

 

“We are excited to back an unprecedented team in their journey to assist many small shops in Pakistan digitize their retail business,” said Tito Costa, partner at Global Founders Capital.

 

As their first product, Bazaar has created a mobile-based B2B e-commerce marketplace that permits mom-and-pop grocery stores (called Kirana stores) to get directly from manufacturers, wholesalers, and suppliers. The Bazaar App provides kiryana owners an outsized assortment of branded and unbranded products, which may be ordered at any time, any day with free next-day delivery.

 

On one end of the marketplace, kiryana owners can enjoy Bazaar App’s convenient ordering, reliable delivery and competitive prices. Suppliers, on the opposite end, through Bazaar get a direct-to-retail channel and are provided actionable insights on purchase patterns and trends.

 

“When we invested in Bazaar in May, they set ambitious targets for 2020. They went on to crush those goals by 10x. Indus Valley Capital is thrilled to double down on Bazaar and strengthen our partnership to revolutionize the $150B retail industry in Pakistan,” said Aatif Awan, Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital.

 

Bazaar was co-founded by Saad Jangda and Hamza Jawaid, whose personal mission is to compile and cultivate talent both in Pakistan and therefore the diaspora to ultimately create a platform that further enables entrepreneurship within the country. before Bazaar, Jangda was a product manager for ride-hailing and food delivery products at Careem, while Jawaid was an adviser at McKinsey & Company, based in Dubai.

 

“As the fifth largest country within the world with rising digital adoption, we have a fantastic opportunity to empower micro-businesses through technology. Over 80% of our customers own and operate smartphones, yet their way of running a business has not changed, until now. By bringing them online, we will meaningfully improve their business and their lives, freeing up time to specialize in the foremost important tasks, eventually enabling greater returns,” said Jawaid.

 

Within just eight months of launch, Bazaar claims to possess served over 10,000 retailers in Karachi and features a catalog of over 500 SKUs on its platform. during this short time, the corporate says they need managing to assemble a team of skillful individuals from a number of the highest local and global companies like Careem, Swvl, Kitopi, Daraz, and Unilever.

 

“At Bazaar, we believe that building the technology layer for traditional commerce may be a massive opportunity. With the sheer size of the Pakistani market, a replacement narrative and spotlight on our ecosystem , and an abundance of Pakistanis moving back home, we finally have all the proper fundamentals to create massive tech institutions. we've been blown away by our early team and humbled by the roster of investors who are supporting us on this journey. it's further validation of the sheer yet untapped potential of tech in our country,” said Jangda.

 

With this fresh round of funding, Bazaar plans to expand its footprint across Pakistan, build its product capabilities and deepen its relationship with customers by offering more value-added services.