Pakistan’s startup scene appears to be accelerating, as another fintech, Savyour, has raised $3.3 million in a seed round. The company claims to have developed the country’s first cashback app and pay-per-sale affiliate marketing network.
Global Founders Capital and Zayn Capital co-led the seed round. Fatima Gobi Ventures, Disrupt.com, Rally Cap Ventures, +92 Ventures, Suya Ventures, Mir Aamir, former CEO of Quotient Technologies, and Pere Hospital, co-founder of Secways, also participated in the round.
According to the company’s statement, it seeks to increase financial inclusion by incentivizing transactions regardless of payment method, with the goal of enabling consumers to purchase better brands at the best prices while enabling brands, retailers, and e-tailers to grow their businesses on a pay-per-sale basis.
Umair Gadit, co-founder and CEO of Savyour, told Business Recorder that this was their first-round and was “massively over-subscribed”
In response to a question about the value proposition, Umair stated that there is no upfront cost associated with listing a brand on their platform.
“They pay us commission only when a sale is made via our site, which we then split between our users (as cashback) and retain the remainder. Savyour is the most cost-effective and ROI-driven marketing platform as a result of this model.
“For a brand to connect directly with shoppers, they would need to pursue an alternate marketing channel, which would require them to incur significant costs in order to merely garner eyeballs with no guarantee of conversion.
“Apart from this, we provide several additional marketing benefits to our partner brands, such as inclusion in our ongoing campaigns and inclusion in our overall outreach efforts. Our in-house team of experts from various functions such as marketing and category also provides counseling to SMBs on a regular basis, as our core mission is to assist businesses of all sizes in Pakistan,” the CEO explained.
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Savyour stated that it intends to use the multimillion-dollar funding to accelerate its online expansion and launch the platform’s in-store feature.
Umair elaborated on the company’s expansion strategy, stating that their immediate goal is to strengthen their presence not just in the country’s major cities, but also in remote areas with enormous potential.
“Our browser extension is currently in the pilot stage and will be launched officially soon. Following that, we intend to offer our users in-store cashback, and we are confident that this feature will help us grow,” he said.
Umair and Saad Gadit founded the company in August 2020. The company claims to have processed over 200,000 orders and onboarded over 250 partner brands.
Since its launch, Savyour has grown 52 percent month over month and distributed over Rs100 million in cash back to its users. Savyour’s user base currently spans 58 Pakistani cities, the company added.
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“With over 64% of Pakistan’s population under the age of 30, you have a new generation of shoppers who are demanding, tech-savvy, and looking for better value for their money to counter in “lation,” Umair stated.
“Pakistan’s commerce sector faces a number of challenges, including a lack of consumer trust and confidence, being dominated by SMEs with limited talent and resources, and the absence of a dedicated discovery platform. Digitizing this space will create new opportunities and level the playing field for consumers and businesses alike,” he continued.