Zarya Raises $1.7 Million Pre-Seed To Build A Meesho For Pakistan

Lahore-based B2B e-commerce forum Zarya has touched $1.7 million in a pre-seed round spreadhead by one of leading VCs Raed Ventures of the MENA, with participation from Fatima Gobi Ventures, Global Founders Capital, US-based 5 Global. Egyptian social commerce startup Taager had touched $6.4 million in a seed round before this year also entered the round.

Established by brothers Faisal and Saad Zahid earlier this year, Zarya makes capable small sellers to source various products, comprising apparel for kids and ladies, through its forum and sell them in their connection. The startup handles the whole procedure, from product sourcing to payment and delivery processing, and transfers the benefits of each seller when a sale is done.

This idea of social selling was developed by Meesho in India and has been adjusted by various startups from rising markets, comprising Taager and Brimore from Egypt. Begun in 2015, Meesho has increased more than $1 billion in overall financing to date and was esteemed at close to $5 billion in its very latest financing round. Zarya recently has more than 3,000 products on its podium with schemes to add several more by presenting classifications such as shoes, abayas, makeup, and home textiles.

Co-founder of Zarya Faisel Zahid, remarking on the event, stated, “Pakistan has more than 100 million YouTube and 45 million Facebook users. Social media users of Pakistan are spending over 3 hours a day on social media. In case you are spending a lot of time on social media, this is quite natural to begin selling and purchasing while on social media applications. They set the target to provide their sellers each possibility to flourish in the atmosphere.”

Faisal Zahid was the last director of product at Careem. Before beginning Zarya, Faisal was senior director of product maintenance at Saudi grocery delivery startup Nana.

Wael Nafee, Principal at Raed Ventures, stated, “Raed catches the social commerce area increasing quickly in the MENA sector. Similar markets like China, India, and LATAM are presenting previous signs of its probability. Zarya’s previously commercial traction and product value in Pakistan show its robust capability to give the experience that independent sellers require. Raed is delighted to associate with Zarya and its team.”