A Karachi-based e-commerce marketplace called Bazaar has raised $30 million in the Series A round — the largest for any Pakistani startup.
Silicon Valley-based early-stage VC Defy Partners and Singapore-based Wavemaker Partners led the latest financing round that was the largest series A in Pakistan.
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US-based Acrew Capital, Japan’s Saison Capital, Zayn Capital, and Silicon Valley-based B&Y Venture Partners also participated in the latest funding round.
Bazaar’s existing investors — Indus Valley Capital, Global Founders Capital, Next Billion Ventures, and Alter Global — participated in the Series A round as well.
Several angel investors, including the current and former leaders of Antler, Careem, Endeavor, Gumroad, LinkedIn, and Notion, were also part of the latest financing round.
Founded by Saad Jangda and Hamza Jawaid in the mid-2020, Bazaar’s aim is to build an operating system for traditional retail in Pakistan to allow retailers to connect directly with wholesalers and manufacturers. Its mobile-only B2B e-commerce marketplace has enabled thousands of retailers in Karachi and Lahore to easily procure inventory for their stores.
Bazaar also launched a digital ledger app called Easy Khata earlier this year to help retailers in Pakistan manage their bookkeeping, and stated that both the apps have served more than 750,000 merchants so far.
Bazaar has a loyal customer base with a massive 90 percent retention rate as a result of the focus on simplicity, and delight in its products.
Kamil Saeid, a Partner at Defy Partners, said, “What Bazaar has managed to accomplish in the last year is incredible. We are extremely impressed by the speed and robustness with which they build and deploy. As Defy’s first investment into Pakistan’s burgeoning tech ecosystem, we feel Bazaar is on its way to create a category-defining company for the country”.
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