Pakistan: Tajir, a Pakistani B2B e-commerce portal, has announced that it has secured $17 million in a Series A headed by American venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.
Fatima Gobi Ventures, Y Combinator Continuity Fund, Golden Gate Ventures, AAVCF, Flexport, VentureSouq Liberty City Ventures, and other angel investors also participated in this round.
Tajir was founded in 2018 by two brothers, Babar and Ismail Khan, to let tiny mom-and-pop businesses (also known as Kirana shops in Pakistan) buy merchandise via conventional wholesale channels. Small Kirana shop owners may acquire over 1,000 stock-keeping units, including kitchen basics, snacks, and biscuits, using the startup’s mobile application.
Currently, the start-up exclusively works with small businesses in Lahore and other parts of central Punjab. Tajir, on the other hand, intends to use the newest amount of investor cash to extend its activities to Karachi.
Both Babar and Ismail claim they intend to reform Pakistan’s grocery market, with a particular emphasis on supply chain operations. Tajir’s target demographic has a lot of potentials, according to Ismail, who claims that mom and pop businesses account up 90% of Pakistan’s retail industry.
Tajir also claims that it would assist Kirana business owners to earn more money by saving time.
Kleiner Perkins is excited to make its first investment in Pakistan, having been impressed by the business strategy. Tajir was recently dubbed the country’s “largest tech-enabled retail network” in a post by a venture capital company.
Tajir was the first Pakistani start-up to be sponsored by Y Combinator, with a seed round of $1.8 million raised a year ago.
