Pakistan-based social commerce platform DealCart announced Thursday that it has raised a $4.5 million pre-seed funding round led by Shorooq Partners with participation from Fatima Gobi Ventures, Vibe Capital, 500 Global, i2i Ventures, Julian Shapiro, Rally Cap Ventures, Alex Lazarow, and several strategic angel investors.
DealCart, a group buying platform that provides underserved communities with access to affordable daily essential products in a gamified and interactive manner, will use the funding to further product development and team expansion. This is one of the largest investments in the MENAP region for early-stage startups and comes just four months after the company’s establishment in March 2022.
Despite the burgeoning growth in smartphone and internet penetration, e-commerce adoption remains low among the middle and lower-middle income segments, which constitutes the majority of Pakistan’s 220 million population. The main reason being that e-commerce marketplaces today primarily serve higher income groups, offering premium electronics, fashion apparel, and various goods and services through quick commerce.
Recognizing that the majority of the population values and prioritises the affordability of daily essential products, DealCart co-founders Haider Raza and Ammar Naveed are addressing this unmet ecommerce need through its ‘buy together and save together’ model, which allows users to buy in groups, as well as share deals on messaging platforms and social media. This empowers customers with the ability to place larger orders as a group, unlocking lower prices for all, while providing a new, engaging and community-centric way to shop.
DealCart also aims to increase nationwide awareness and visibility for locally manufactured brands through its platform. Founders Ammar and Haider each possess over 6+ years of experience in building and scaling technology companies in Pakistan & Middle East.
Prior to founding DealCart, Ammar was a senior director at ride-hailing app company Careem overseeing its operations across the Middle East & Pakistan. Haider launched and scaled mobility startup Swvl in Pakistan, as well as co-founded a tourism startup in the country. Both founders share a passion for social commerce and the drive to make a positive impact on communities in the region.
Haider Raza, co-founder of DealCart, shares,
“Pakistan has recently seen a surge in social media users, a phenomenon that generally precedes these users transacting online for their daily needs. DealCart seeks to use this opportunity to introduce our group buying platform with the aim to enable more people to get access to their favourite brands at extremely affordable prices. With our target market spending upwards of 50% of their household income on groceries and essentials, DealCart provides the already inflation burdened Pakistani consumer much needed relief.”
Ammar Naveed, co-founder of DealCart, adds,
“Our focus from day one has been the long-term commercial sustainability of the company; we want to create a business which has solid foundations and is aligned with the new reality of the global financial markets. We plan to do this by having a super lean cost structure, while expanding and growing the business primarily through our technology.”
