Daraz has closed $56 million in its first ever funding round. The valuation and size of the current business weren’t disclosed.
Daraz Group operates its ecommerce businesses in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, three markets where ecommerce is in its nascent stages. Starting back in 2012, it has gained major traction and is likened to Amazon for these developing markets.
This new funding will help the group grow its operations in all markets where it operates and to expand into new frontier markets.
The funding round was primarily led by the CDC Group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government alongside Asia Pacific Internet Group, which is Rocket Internet’s regional investment group.
David Osborne, Investment Director at CDC, said:
Daraz is rapidly building an online trading infrastructure across a number of South Asia’s most challenging frontier markets. CDC’s investment will enable the company to continue its impressive growth. We expect our investment to help Daraz create several thousand direct and indirect jobs over the next 5 years, and play an important role in the professionalization and development of local retail sectors, logistics networks and technology industries.
Bjarke Mikkelsen, CEO of Daraz, said:
Taking the e-commerce business model into these exciting markets is a fascinating journey. Although internet penetration is still relatively low, the market is developing fast and its potential is immense. By making Daraz a success, we are not only building a great business, but also creating jobs and infrastructure in the countries we operate in – that’s what makes it so exciting.
Hanno Stegmann, CEO of APACIG, said:
The markets where Daraz is active are inspiring for entrepreneurs; though internet penetration is extremely low and online shopping is still a new trend, the growth and potential are unique.
Daraz just doesn’t operate in Asia only. It also operates in Africa with jumia name.
Its a great news for eCommerce in Pakistan. Congratulations! Team Daraz.pk. Good luck!
Pakistan needs to get rid of this Jhantooo DARAZ and open up markets for Indian and Chinese firms like Flipkart Alibaba Snapdeal OLX Quikrr
olx is present here already.
ooh ok
Daraz does not seem to perform so well to attract such a huge investment. Something is wrong.
I recently had some very bad experiencex with Daraz.pk. Late Deliveries and pathetic returnx method (aldo they do take returnx), Bad Customer Support, Excessive Delivery Charges to areas other than KHI,LHR,ISB n RWP . So i hope with this funding, they will make a better effort to satisfy their old loyal customers.
They are the shabbiest online store I have shopped at. Second only to HomeShopping in pathetic service. I guess this funding figure is highly exaggerated.
“Starting back in 2012, it has gained major traction and is likened to Amazon for these developing markets.”
Amazon? Seriously!? Daraz has terrible customer service, not to mention poor inventory management. Seems like you guys have forgotten about your own articles:
https://propakistani.pk/2015/05/13/online-shops-lie-about-their-inventory-and-this-is-killing-e-commerce-industry-in-pakistan/
https://propakistani.pk/2015/07/01/pakistani-ecommerce-industry-has-one-key-flaw-that-we-must-fix-right-away/
Amazon on the other hand has excellent customer service, its deliveries are seldom late because it always has inventory on hand, it replaces broken/damaged items with no hassle, supports its customers in claiming their warranties, and those are just a few of its good traits. All in all, Amazon and Daraz couldn’t be further apart when it comes to business practices.
Daraz doesn’t deserve this funding. We should focus more on getting Amazon or Flipkart to invest here.
Absolutely right. Moreover, Daraz does not maintain their own inventory. They purchase products from their select retailers after the confirmation of order by the buyer and sometimes the retailers also arrange from the whole sellers, which is why it takes weeks to reach the end user.
great