{"id":49635,"date":"2024-09-24T11:35:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T06:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=49635"},"modified":"2024-09-24T11:35:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T06:35:10","slug":"qist-bazaar-raises-us3-2-million-in-series-a-to-revolutionize-bnpl-in-pakistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/business\/qist-bazaar-raises-us3-2-million-in-series-a-to-revolutionize-bnpl-in-pakistan\/","title":{"rendered":"Qist Bazaar raises US$3.2 million in Series A to revolutionize BNPL in Pakistan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">KARACHI: Pakistan\u2019s leading Buy Now Pay Later (<a href=\"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/pakistan\/mobilink-bank-and-care-pakistan-join-forces-to-empower-50000-women\/\">BNPL<\/a>) fintech startup, Qist Bazaar announced that it has secured US$3.2 million in its Series A funding round. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The round was led by\u00a0<\/span>Indus Valley Capital<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">with participation<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> from\u00a0<\/span>Gobi Partners.<\/p>\n<p>Bank Alfalah<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, one of Pakistan\u2019s largest commercial banks has already invested in Qist Bazaar, leading the seed round. This milestone transaction marks the first time an international VC has teamed up with a leading Pakistani commercial bank to take an equity stake in a BNPL fintech, signaling a significant moment for Pakistan\u2019s rapidly evolving consumer financing space.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Qist Bazaar, licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as a Non-bank Financial Company (NBFC), provides installment-based payment solutions to unbanked and underbanked segments of the population. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In just three years, the platform has disbursed over 55,000 product-based loans amounting to $12 million, enabling Pakistanis from all walks of life to purchase essential goods such as mobile phones and home appliances through affordable monthly payments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Qist Bazaar caters to a wide range of customers, from those with no financial history to individuals already banking at established institutions. By adopting a simple eligibility criterion\u2014\u201cEvery Pakistani<\/span><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201d<\/span><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u2014Qist Bazaar has enabled underserved groups such as domestic workers, rickshaw drivers, students, and micro-entrepreneurs to access installment-based financing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> The company has also introduced a hybrid scoring model that leverages <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">both<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> traditional and alternative methods to assess creditworthiness, making it easier for unbanked consumers to participate in the formal financial system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Arif Lakhani, Co-founder and CEO at Qist Bazaar, shared<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, \u201cAt Qist Bazaar, we are committed to bringing the fundamental needs of Pakistanis within their reach. Home essentials like ceiling fans and water dispensers are necessities, not luxuries, yet many cannot afford them. With the support of our investors, we offer flexible payment plans, making these essential items more accessible to everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Indus Valley Capital<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, the lead for the series A round, is a prominent investor known for being the first VC to back several category-leading Pakistani startups including Bazaar, Maqsad, BridgeLinx, <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">and<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> Farmdar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Aatif Awan, Founder and Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital, said<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, \u201cWe see enormous potential in Qist Bazaar\u2019s ability to fundamentally reshape how consumer financing is done in Pakistan, similar to what Bajaj Finance did for India. What excites us here is not just the market opportunity but Qist Bazaar&#8217;s impact on the everyday lives of millions of Pakistanis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Naiel Ikram, General Partner for\u00a0Gobi Partners\u2019 Pakistan-focused fund added<span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, \u201cWhat stood out to us about Qist Bazaar is how effectively they use technology to drive operational efficiencies while <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">simultaneously<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> leveraging it for sustainable, high growth. The founders\u2019 deep experience in the BNPL space, combined with their nuanced understanding of their target customers\u2019 behavior, reminds us of some of the most successful founders we\u2019ve backed across Asia. With a clear path to scale by serving historically underserved users in Pakistan, Qist Bazaar is well-positioned to replicate the growth stories we\u2019ve witnessed across the region.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KARACHI: Pakistan\u2019s leading Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) fintech startup, Qist Bazaar announced that it has secured US$3.2 million in its Series A funding round. The round was led by\u00a0Indus Valley Capital, with participation from\u00a0Gobi Partners. Bank Alfalah, one of Pakistan\u2019s largest commercial banks has already invested in Qist Bazaar, leading the seed round. This [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":49638,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22178,22177,22176,22175],"class_list":["post-49635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-bnpl","tag-gobi-partners","tag-indus-valley-capital","tag-qist-bazaar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49640,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49635\/revisions\/49640"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}