KARACHI – Pakistan-based agri-supply chain platform, Jiye Technologies, has announced raising $2.5 million in its pre-seed funding round, the highest pre-seed round in the country’s agri-tech sector.
The round saw participation from Sarmayacar, Access Bridge Ventures, Jabbar Internet Group, EquiTie, and Seedstars with further involvement from a strategic angel network hailing from MENAP, Europe & North America.
The startup was founded by Ali Amin (Ex-Careem & Swvl), Osama Salman (Ex Unilever & Swvl ), and Ahmed Bilal Afzal (10 Years + supply chain experience).
The founders bring strategic backgrounds of conventional Agri trade, supply chain & early-stage startup scaling to form the formidable trio.
Jiye technologies aims to revolutionize the agri-sector in Pakistan by giving farmers easier access to major markets and convenient sourcing to retailers through lean supply chain ecosystems.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s grocery delivery startup, Krave Mart, bagged the country’s largest early-stage funding in its pre-seed round.
“Backed by MSA Capital, ru-Net, Global Founders Capital, Zayn Capital, Other Angel Investors, we have raised US $6 Million (Largest Pre-Seed in Pakistan) to expand our operations, and create value for the entire ecosystem!” the startup announced it on Twitter.
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Krave Mart, Kassim Shroff, said that the funding will be utilised to expand its services in Pakistan.
The company plans to expand its services to 10 more cities across the country by the end of the first-quarter next year. It also aims to explore markets in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.
“We are where India was 10 years ago. It will take us just 2-3 years to catch up because the ecosystem really favoyrs us,” Shroff was quoted as saying in the Bloomberg report, emphasising on Pakistan’s young tech-savvy population. “We felt there is huge space.”
Quick commerce “is a hyper-fragmented and inefficient experience” in Pakistan, added Tim Chen, general partner at MSA Capital. “We’ve benchmarked and invested in similar models globally and believe Pakistan is a market ripe for disruption.”
The year 2021 proved revolutionary for Pakistan-based startups as they raised more than $300 billion from both local and foreign investors.
