Pakistani Raw Materials Tech Startup Zaraye Raises $2.1M in Pre-Seed Funding

Pakistani raw materials procurement platform Zaraye has raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding that it will use to hire new employees, build its technology and scale the company across several categories on its marketplace, according to a Tech Funding News report Thursday (April 14).

Tiger Global and Zayn Capital led the fundraising effort, with participation in the round include +92 Ventures, Alan Rutledge, Jack Rizvi and current and former Careem employees. This is Tiger Global’s first pre-seed investment in Pakistan, the report says.

“We aim to strengthen the backbone of the country’s economy by helping the entrepreneurs in finding avenues to optimize and scale,” said Ahsan Ali Khan, co-founder and CEO of Zaraye, in the report. “Zaraye will help our partners to compete locally and globally as they find more savings in time and money to create the best products.

“With the confidence of amazing investors in Zaraye, we are geared to supercharge our mission to reach millions of users,” he said.

Zaraye was founded in 2021 by college friends Taha Iqbal Teli, Hashair Junaid Ahmedani and Khan, who have also worked together multiple times during their academic and professional careers.

“Small and medium business owners have been trapped in a cycle of high competition and lack of financing options,” said Ahmedani in the report. “Zaraye aims to help these businesses scale as they find the efficiencies in procurement and financing options to make better decisions for their businesses.”

Teli says Zaraye’s goal is to help entrepreneurs “focus on manufacturing and selling their products.”

Related: Pakistani BNPL Firm QisstPay Expands to US

In February, Pakistani buy now, pay later (BNPL) startup QisstPay entering the U.S. with an online shopping tool for retailers: a one-click checkout product that will help the company expand into North America markets and help its plans to increase its workforce from 150 to 350 by year’s end.

Last year, QisstPay raised $15 million in pre-seed and seed funding rounds. The company has also recently opened an office in Bangladesh.