Dastgyr, a Karachi-based B2B e-commerce platform that connects suppliers with retailers, has raised a $3.5 million in a seed round led by venture capital firm SOSV, a global venture capital firm providing multi-stage investment to develop and scale the big ideas for positive change.
“Our seed round was joined by strategic investors from around the world, including ADB Ventures, Seedstars, Edgebrook Partners, AlZayani Investments, and Tricap Investments,” announced the firm on social media.
With the fresh investment, the platform has planned to launch fintech products to grow and further assist people related to retailing business, including “a Buy Now Pay Later facility”.
To date, Dastgyr has secured a total of $4 million investment. It allows retailers to order over 2,000 stock-keeping units of wholesale inventory along with guaranteed next-day delivery and telephonic helpline support.
Fast-moving consumer goods, stationery products, and mobile accessories are some of the categories available on the company’s online app.
The team of Dastgyr comprises former members of tech startups like Daraz, Careem, and Airlift. Currently, Dastgyr has 280 employees.
“Over the past 12 months, we’ve worked closely with London-based advisors EquiTie LLC to enable this funding round and optimize the path to scalability,” the firm announced.
“Pakistan is seeing the same patterns as India five years ago and China 10 years ago: With 75% of the population owning a smartphone, the first movers in mobile-first services will be the winners,” said William Bao Bean, general manager at SOSV.
Since its launch in 2020, Dastgyr, which operates in Karachi and Lahore, has facilitated about 30,000 customers.
The company said that at present, its investment to gross merchandise value ratio is US$1:US$58. So far, it has clocked 5,240 daily active users at an average of 10,000 daily sessions.
Typically, the average small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) retailer has a total monthly working capital of US$2,000 to US$3,000 with no access to external funds, the company said in a statement.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/sadapay-pakistani-fintech-startup-raises-7-2-million/
