A Pakistani fintech and logistics business, PostEx, has acquired $1.5 million in venture funding from major institutional investors.
The business stated that its project aims to solve cash-on-delivery difficulties with quick and upfront payments “by scaling its one-stop-shop for financing and logistical solutions for e-commerce platforms.”
MSA Capital, which has invested in Uber and Klarna among other notable tech startups, led the round, which also included UAE-based Shorooq Partners, Pakistan-focused Zayn Capital, Dubai-based VentureSouq, PNO Ventures, 92Ventures, and Arbisoft CEO Yasser Bashir.
Through the process of delivering upfront payment via cash on delivery, PostEx claims to be trying to solve the difficulties of cash recovery cycles and working capital limits that stymie corporate growth.
The founders of PostEx are:
- Omer Khan.
- Saad Mahmood.
- Babar Razzaq.
- Adil Naseem.
The funds will be used to expand the startup’s product line and add depth to its existing technology-based COD financing platform. It currently employs over 150 people and expects to expand its workforce as it expands to additional clients and services.
Prime Minister said, “Pakistan’s e-commerce landscape is rapidly evolving and lack of access to financing opportunities is hampering the growth of online merchants and e-commerce landscape broadly.”
Consequently, the vision of PostEx revolves around such motives, and “Our goal is to be the first and last source of funds of fast-growing e-commerce businesses to meet all their capital requirements to accelerate their growth.”
According to the people of the startup, “This is complemented by an in-house logistics fleet for e-commerce companies, thereby helping them grow through easy and instant access to cash and liquidity.”
Furthermore, they also added “In a primarily cash-based economy, running a business online comes with challenges of cash recovery cycles, impeding scaling due to working capital constraints. Challenges on the last-mile delivery front also lead to high cancellations and lack of financing options adversely affects the growth of e-commerce businesses in Pakistan.”
The rapid rise of e-commerce in Pakistan is being slowed by high levels of COD, according to Tim Chen of MSA Capital.
In addition, he also said, “PostEx’s integrated instant payments with logistics is a model we have backed globally to resolve the hurdles posed by COD, and [we] believe that Omer and team have the execution capabilities to build a regional leader.”
Faisal Aftab, co-founder and managing partner of Zayn Capital, stated that PostEX’s factoring and logistics solution was overcoming significant difficulties for Pakistan’s fast-growing e-commerce business.
Tamer Azer, a partner at Shorooq Partners, praised the Post-Ex as a “perfect convergence” for “our ideas on the potential of the Pakistani market as well as our profound admiration for infrastructure support organizations in the e-commerce business.”
PostEx also announced a digital payments solution that “allows businesses to collect payments online from customers using PostEx’s checkout plugins,” according to the company.
