KARACHI – Oraan, Pakistan’s first women-led, women-first fintech startup, has successfully raised $3 million in funding, co-led by returning investor Zayn Capital and Wavemaker Partners.
Resolution Ventures, i2i Ventures, Hustle Fund, Haitou Global, Plug and Play and angels like Claire Diaz-Ortiz, a former investing partner at Magma Partners and early Twitter employee, also participated in the funding round, said a tech website.
Oraan has so far raised just over $4 million in funding. Previously, the fintech had raised financing from Tharros, Zayn Capital, an angel syndicate led by Google executives, and Graph Ventures
The startup is a joint venture launched by Halima Iqbal, a former investment banker, and Farwah Tapal, a design strategist, in 2018.
“Oraan was founded when we realised that the large majority of the Pakistani population struggles to access financial services simply because they are not designed for them,” said Iqbal. “While there is a demand among women for credit, insurance and savings services, they are unable to approach financial institutions due to mistrust, complexity of products and challenges around mobility.”
The startup provides services related to credit, insurance, and savings in Pakistan, which it says is home to five per cent of the world’s unbanked female population.
The press statement described Oraan Committees, the startup’s flagship product, as the digital reimagination of Rotating Saving and Credit Associations (ROSCAs) — an age-old method of group saving and credit.
“ROSCAs, usually known as committees or beesees in Pakistan, are used by 41 per cent of the Pakistani population, with up to $5 billion rotating annually,” it said, adding that users can sing up for suitable committees, using the Oraan app.
Recently, Oraan was selected for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulatory Sandbox programme, the press statement said, adding that today, Oraan boasted a community of over 10,000 savers, 84pc of whom were women, from across 170-plus cities.
“These women use Oraan Committees to save, borrow, build emergency funds, and achieve other goals like travel and pay for education, working capital, as well as medical treatments.”
The company is not planning to launch other financial products especially catering to women “in the hopes of becoming the country’s women-first digital, social bank”.
Speaking about Oraan, Faisal Chowdry of Zayn Capital said: “Having been involved with Oraan since early 2020, we are excited to co-lead Oraan’s latest funding round to help promulgate indigenous finance across Pakistan and in the region. Our belief is that the digitisation of indigenous finance solutions and behaviours is the key to unlocking the fintech opportunity in Pakistan and providing real utility in terms of product for customers.”
He said that “being able to be a part of the story of the only women-led and founded fintech in Pakistan, with a goal of empowering women who sit at the financial helm of every household, fits with our ethos at Zayn. “
Congratulations have poured in for the country’s first women-led startup on Twitter.
Federal Planning Minister Asad Umar wrote, “Great to see Pakistani women also making their mark in the startup space. Initiatives like oraan which improve financial inclusiveness for women would make a great impact on key strategic objectives like women empowerment and increasing savings rate”.
Former special assistant to the prime minister on digital Pakistan Tania Airdu said, “Funding news just keeps getting better for Pakistan startups. @myoraan just announced the largest seed round by a women-led fintech. Big milestone for women in tech & entrepreneurship & for the millions that have been financially excluded!”
