Business

Pakistani startup OneLoad raises $11 million from investors to fund growth phase

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Pakistan has the third-largest unbanked population in the world.
OneLoad is a pioneer in Pakistan’s fintech industry.
OneLoad has raised $11 million from investors to fund a growth phase.

Pakistan’s micro-retailer fintech OneLoad has raised $11 million from investors to fund a growth phase as they focus on tapping the world’s third largest unbanked population, Bloomberg reported.

According to the publication, the latest round of investment was led by Sarmayacar and Shorooq Partners, in cooperation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Strategic Investment Fund, which was making its first investment in Pakistan.

OneLoad’s Android application, which is primarily used by small shopkeepers, is Pakistan’s largest non-banking digital transaction platform, serving several million customers each month. It collaborates with banks and telecommunications companies to provide services such as payments, cash deposits, and lending.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Muhammad Yar Hiraj, founder and CEO of OneLoad, stated that the company aspires to be the “largest banking platform in the country for the unbanked world, the financially excluded market. “Our goal is to become the largest micro branch for the unbanked without owning any branches,” he said.

OneLoad has 40,000 agents and completed about $100 million in transactions last year.

According to Hiraj, the company’s goal is to increase daily transactions to one million from the current level of up to 400,000.

Pakistan, the world’s fifth-most populous country, made headlines last year when it received a record $350 million in startup funding. According to the World Bank, the country has a total unbanked population of 110 million adults, ranking third only to India and China.

While digital payments increased in Pakistan during the pandemic, only 1% of nearly $4 trillion in payments are made digitally. Last month, Dbank completed the country’s largest early-stage fundraising round, as well as the entry of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital into Pakistan. SadaPay, another fintech startup, is expected to be the world’s fastest-growing mobile wallet in the five years to 2025, according to research from London-based fintech company Boku Inc.

In contrast to most of its competitors, OneLoad intends to expand its shopkeepers and serve daily wage workers.

According to Hiraj, the startup’s existing backer Systems Ltd. participated in the funding round, as did commercial banks that provided debt funding. The International Financial Corporation of the World Bank is another existing investor.

“We cannot have financial inclusion without solid infrastructure that integrates in people’s daily lives, if the products we build don’t seamlessly integrate with people’s every day, we will not achieve that,” said Tamer Azer, Partner at Shorooq Partners.

“This is what we learned in Egypt and this is what we see as a tremendous opportunity in Pakistan as well,” he added.

Business

There are US$13,280.5 million in foreign exchange reserves in Pakistan.

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

According to a representative for the central bank, as of April 19, 2024, the nation’s total liquid foreign reserves were valued at US$ 13,280.5 million. A loss of US$74 million left the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign reserves at US$7,981.2 million.

Commercial banks have $5,299.3 million in reserves for Pakistan.

In the week that concluded on April 12, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $14.4 million to $8.055 billion.

“In a weekly statement, SBP stated that it has repaid US$ 1 billion in principal and interest on Pakistan’s International Bond, which matures this week.”

But at $13.374 billion, the nation’s total reserves decreased by $68 million. In the same way, commercial banks’ reserves dropped to $5.319 billion, a reduction of $82 million.

Business

NIMA seminar to increase Pakistan’s ship recycling industry’s capacity

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

According to a release, important players from a range of maritime industries attended the conference to discuss issues facing the shipping sector.

It further stated that the symposium cleared the path for the resurgence of a sustainable future in ship recycling.

Participants in the conference included representatives of the Gadani Ship Breaking Labour Union, PSBA, KS&EW, KPT, PMSA, GEMS, and the federal and Balochistani governments.

Furthermore, global perspectives and ideas were offered by international specialists such as Rabia Razzaque from UN-ILO and Professor Raphael Baumler from the World Maritime University.

The seminar emphasized Pakistan’s capacity to emerge as a pioneer in the field of environmentally friendly ship recycling.

In order to protect the environment and the safety of employees, the participants emphasized the importance of following international standards and regulations.

During his speech, Chief Guest Senator Nisar Ahmed Khoro emphasized the importance of the maritime industry’s resurgence and the crucial necessity for coordinated efforts from all parties involved.

A new age of economic prosperity, worker safety, and environmental responsibility for Pakistan’s maritime industry was called for as he urged the stakeholders to work together on a comprehensive SENSREC program.

Vice Admiral Ahmed Saeed (Retd), the president of NIMA, emphasized the significance of environmental stewardship and safety in ship recycling procedures.

Business

Inflows into the Roshan Digital Account surged to $7.660 billion on March 24.

Published

3 days ago

Farwa

According to the data, remittance inflows for the month of March totaled US$ 182 million, whereas they were US$ 141 million in February and US$ 142 million in January 2024.

Millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including those who own Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs), can now engage in banking, payment, and investing activities in Pakistan with the help of these accounts, which offer cutting-edge banking solutions.

According to a statement from the State Bank of Pakistan, the number of accounts registered under the program increased by 11,091 from 668,701 accounts in February 2024 to 679,792 accounts in March 2024.

As of March 2024, the central bank reported that foreign nationals of Pakistan have invested US $312 million in Naya Pakistan Certificates, US $528 million in Naya Pakistan Islamic Certificates, and US $31 million in Roshan Equity Investment.

It is important to note that former prime minister Imran Khan introduced the Roshan Digital Account initiative in September 2020 with the goal of giving Pakistanis living abroad access to digital banking services for the first time.