Pakistan fintech player NayaPay gets $13m seed round
NayaPay, a Pakistan-based financial technology start-up has secured USD 13m in what is claimed to be one of the country’s largest-ever seed rounds.
Zayn Capital, which focuses on Pakistan, Bangladesh, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), led the round. Last year, it participated in a USD 30m investment in B2B marketplace Bazaar, said to be Pakistan’s biggest Series A round on record.
Additional commitments came from MSA Novo, Silicon Valley-based Graph Ventures, Singapore’s Saison Capital, Empower Finance CEO Warren Hogarth, and Maple Leaf Capital, an investment firm with ties to manufacturing business Saigol Group. The Lakhani family, which controls Pakistan conglomerate Lakson Group and has sponsored NayaPay from the outset, also invested.
NayaPay combines a chat-led app and a mobile wallet with accompanying virtual and physical cards. Last September, it became the first e-money institution approved by the State Bank of Pakistan
The chat-led app is primarily aimed at students and young professionals, who can open accounts on their smart phones within minutes and make payments, send and receive money, and split bills. On the merchant side, NayaPay has developed NayaPay Arc, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that connects business accounts, financial management tools, and universal payments acceptance.
The company said in a statement that it wants to replicate the network effects between consumers and merchants seen on platforms such as Square, WeChat Pay, Alipay, and Venmo.
More than 50m adults in Pakistan are unbanked, while only 33% of women have bank accounts. With 70% of the population under 35 years of age, there is a sizeable mobile-first generation, yet at present, only 1% of the country’s USD 4trn in annual payments are transacted through digital channels. Meanwhile, most small enterprises have limited bank access and deal in cash.
“NayaPay is empowering young Pakistani adults starting their financial journey, from students stepping into adulthood to freelancers and entrepreneurs taking an active role in managing their finances,” said Danish A. Lakhani, NayaPay’s CEO and founder (pictured).
“In many senses, it’s a coming-of-age moment for many and our goal is to continue to innovate and build functionality to become a part of their daily lives, for the rest of their lives.”
Other recent investment activity in Pakistan’s fintech space includes a USD 10.1m Series A for Finja, which specialises in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Habib Bank was among the participants, becoming the first traditional bank in the country to back a fintech start-up.
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