Pakistan’s startup scene seems to be racing at top gear as another fintech, Savyour, which says it has developed the country's first cashback app and pay-per-sale affiliate marketing network, has managed to raise $3.3 million in a seed round.
The seed round was co-led by Global Founders Capital and Zayn Capital. The round also saw participation by Fatima Gobi Ventures, Disrupt.com, Rally Cap Ventures, +92 Ventures, Suya Ventures, Mir Aamir, ex-CEO of Quotient Technologies and Pere Hospital, co-founder of Secways.
In its statement, the company said it looks to drive financial inclusion by incentivising transactions regardless of the mode of payment and its purpose is to enable consumers to buy better brands at the best prices while enabling brands, retailers and e-tailers to grow their business on a pay-per-sale model.
Talking to Business Recorder, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Savyour, Umair Gadit, said that this was their first-round and was "massively over-subscribed".
In response to a query on value-proposition, Umair said that for any brand to get listed on their platform, there is no upfront cost attached.
“They pay us commission only when a sale has been made through us, which we then split among our users (as cashback) and keep the rest. This model makes Savyour the most cost-efficient and ROI driven marketing platform.
“For a brand to connect with shoppers directly, they would have to opt for an alternate marketing channel for which they would have to pay a significant cost to merely grab eyeballs with no guarantee of them translating into sales.
"Besides this, we offer several other marketing benefits to our partner brands such as making them a part of our ongoing campaigns and incorporating them in our overall outreach efforts. Our in-house team of experts from different functions such as Marketing and Category also regularly provide counselling to SMBs, as our core mission is to help businesses of all sizes grow across Pakistan,” the CEO told Business Recorder.
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Savyour said it plans to use the multi-million dollar funds raised to accelerate its online expansion and launch the in-store feature for the platform.
Elaborating on the company's expansion plan, Umair said that their immediate goal is to strengthen presence in not just the major cities of the country, but also far-flung areas where there is immense potential.
“Our browser extension is currently in its pilot phase, which we will be officially launching soon. Next on the cards would be providing our users with in-store cashback, and we are confident that this feature would boost our growth,” he said.
Launched in August 2020 by Umair and Saad Gadit, the company says it has processed more than 200,000 orders and onboarded over 250 partner brands.
Over 64% of Pakistan’s population is below 30, which means you have a new wave of shoppers who are demanding, tech-savvy and seek more value for their money to counter inflation: co-founder and CEO Umair Gadit
Overall, Savyour has seen 52% month-over-month growth since its launch and disbursed over Rs100 million in cashback to their users. Currently, Savyour’s user base extends across 58 Pakistani cities, added the company.
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“Over 64% of Pakistan’s population is below 30, which means you have a new wave of shoppers who are demanding, tech-savvy and seek more value for their money to counter inflation," said Umair.
“Pakistan’s commerce sector faces a number of challenges; the lack of consumer trust and confidence, being dominated by SMEs that lack both talents and resources to grow, and having no dedicated discovery platform. Digitising this space will open up new opportunities and help level the field, for both consumers and businesses,” he added.