This week’s edition of Finovate Global features news on recent fintech developments in Pakistan.
Fintech Deal Draws Bazaar Technologies Closer to Profitability
A report in Bloomberg indicates that Pakistan’s most well-funded startup, Bazaar Technologies, is closing in on profitability. The company, which was founded in 2020, offers a B2B e-commerce platform that connects small retailers with suppliers. This digitization of traditional supply chains has been credited with empowering thousands of smaller merchants, known as “kiryana” shops, to participate in the digital economy.
It is the company’s recent acquisition of digital payments platform Keenu that has observers believing that Bazaar could achieve profitability in the coming quarters. Keenu offers payment services, including point-of-sale (POS) solutions, an online payment gateway, and a mobile wallet app, via a merchant acquiring network that spans more than 150 cities throughout Pakistan. A licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI), Keenu processes more than $1 billion in annual payments.
The acquisition marked the first time a major Pakistan-based e-commerce company integrated payments into its operations, and has been seen as part of the State Bank of Pakistan’s National Payment Strategy to advance digital transformation and financial inclusion in the country.
“This is more than an acquisition—it’s a strategic alignment that redefines what it means to serve households and businesses in Pakistan,” Bazaar Technologies Co-Founder Saad Jangda said.
Bazaar has raised more than $100 million in funding from investors including Dragoneer Investment Group, Tiger Global, and Indus Valley Capital. The company is headquartered in Karachi.
Logistics Fintech Trukkr Secures Funding from UAE’s Yango Group
Via its investment arm, Yango Ventures, UAE-based technology company Yango Group announced an investment in Trukkr, a fintech platform in Pakistan that provides financial services to companies in the trucking business. The amount of the investment was not disclosed, but the funding does represent the first Pakistan-based investment for Yango Ventures. The investment will also provide Trukkr with Yango Group’s product expertise and insights from its operations in more than 30 markets around the world.
“We are excited to partner with Yango Group, in addition to their strategic equity investment, we find that their experience in building state-of-the-art logistics tech and deploying it in over 30 countries will allow us to strengthen our offerings in Pakistan and beyond,” Trukkr CEO Sheryar Bawany said.
Founded in 2019 by Hisham Adamjee, Mishal Adamjee, Kasra Zunnaiyyer, and Ali Haji, Trukkr is digitizing and modernizing Pakistan’s logistics market—a market alued at more than $35 billion. The company’s integrated SaaS platform and embedded finance solutions help trucking companies better conduct fleet management, trip coordination, invoicing, and lending operations. Recently securing a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) license from the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Trukkr also provides working capital and fleet financing solutions, as well as a robust loan management suite.
“Pakistan’s logistics sector is full of potential, and Trukkr is helping move it forward—by giving operators the financial tools they need to scale and succeed in a competitive market,” Yango Group CEO Daniil Shuleyko said. “We’re here to support that transformation with our experience and technology. This is the kind of local innovation we want to help grow, and it’s just the start of our work in Pakistan.”
Pakistan Bolsters Cybersecurity in Fintech as NIBAF Teams Up with Risk Associates
In a bid to enhance cybersecurity for the financial sector, the National Institute of Banking and Finance-Pakistan (NIBAF Pakistan) partnered with Risk Associates to deliver training on the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). The training featured cybersecurity professionals and representatives from leading Pakistan-based banks and financial institutions, and was led by Risk Associates, an internationally recognized certification body and PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA).
The training included discussion on payment security architecture, cardholder data protection, and compliance lifecycle management. The partnership between NIBAF Pakistan and Risk Associates was made official via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in June.
“Together with NIBAF Pakistan, we are delivering forward-looking training that empowers banking professionals to anticipate, adapt, and respond to dynamic threats with operational precision and confidence,” Risk Associates CEO Aftab Rizvi said in a statement. NIBAF Pakistan Co-CEO Lubna Farooq Malik noted that insofar as the financial industry is at the “forefront of profound digital transformation,” it must also lead the way in developing solutions that keep the financial industry and its customers safe.
Headquartered in Bella Vista, NSW, Australia and founded in 2004, Risk Associates assess and certifies businesses in order to establish their commitment to maintaining high security standards and complying with regulatory requirements. The company offers a variety of robust preventive, detective, and corrective cybersecurity solutions, and is a specialist in cybersecurity, risk, compliance, information governance, strategy, and training.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Latvian fintech Handwave secured $4.2 million in seed funding for its palm-based payment and identity platform.
- Deutsche WertpapierService Bank (dwpbank) agreed to acquire Berlin-based brokerage-as-a-service platform lemon.markets.
- Dutch paytech Mollie launched in Hungary, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Alaan, an AI-powered corporate spend management platform based in the UAE, secured $48 million in Series A funding.
- Israel-based startup QuamCore raised $26 million to build one million qubit quantum computer.
- Open banking and embedded finance platform Tarabut secured in-principle approval from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE).
Central and Southern Asia
- Uzbekistan-based fintech and digital bank Uzum locked in $70 million in equity financing at a valuation of $1.5 billion.
- Logistics fintech Trukkr secured investment from UAE-based tech company Yango Group.
- Indian debt collections platform DPDzero raised $7 million in Series A funding.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Mexican fintech platform Finsus acquired the technology of merchant cash advance platform Anticipa.
- Stablecoin-based financial infrastructure company VelaFi forged a strategic partnership with stablecoin-powered payment network Noah.
- Clip launched its all-in-one (AIO) point-of-sale (POS) device in Mexico.
- Cross-border payment platform dLocal unveiled its SmartPix solution that enable merchants to process tokenized Pix payments including recurring and on-demand charges.
Asia-Pacific
Sub-Saharan Africa
Photo by Abuzar Xheikh on Unsplash
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