The startup, which started to operate in 2018, has so far raised 20 million dollars in funding
Lahore-based B2B eCommerce marketplace Tajir raised $17 million in a Series A round led by American VC firm Kleiner Perkins, its first investment in a Pakistani startup. Other investors who invested include Y Combinator Continuity Fund, AAVCF, Fatima Gobi Ventures, Flexport, Golden Gate Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, VentureSouq, and angel investors including Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen and Figma CEO Dylan Field.
Previously, the company had raised $1.8 million dollars and graduated from Y Combinator in March 2020. To date, it has raised over $20 million in funding, which is pretty impressive. The B2B app offer over a thousand products to Kiryana stores in Lahore and nearby areas. It was co-founded by two brothers back in 2018.
Babar Khan, who is one of the co-founders of the startup said that they’re trying to facilitate better earning for the stores through pricing and quick delivery of goods. “Tajir should facilitate any store to increase their income. Right now, that means providing the largest selection, transparent prices, and next-day delivery. We are expanding our catalog continually with more brands and product categories.”
Mamoon Hamid, Partner at Kleiner Perkins, said, “Their software and mission to improve that supply chain and availability of products and pricing and digitizing that process made a ton of sense. I thought that would be the first foray for a company to make an attempt at doing a lot more to be a consumer company, not just a wholesale company.”
Pakistan’s startup scene is getting pretty exciting with more and more international investors taking interest in local startups. By coming up with novel, scalable ideas, these small companies are helping the country get much-needed investment and economic activity. Hopefully, both the public and private sectors will continue to encourage such startups.