Zaraye, a Karachi-based business-to-business raw materials marketplace, earned $2.1 million in a pre-seed round headed by Tiger Global and Zayn Capital, as per a statement issued by the company.
Other investors comprised +92 Ventures, Alan Rutledge, Jack Rizvi, and current and previous Careem employees.
It was the first pre-seed investment of Tiger Global in Pakistan, the statement stated.
It further said that the company, which was established in late 2021, “helps manufacturing businesses procure raw materials and finance working capital”.
Moreover, the statement also mentioned that the “platform helps buyers of raw materials connect with a multitude of suppliers who furnish their quotes in real-time making the process faster and hassle-free”.
“It is currently serving clients across textile and construction industries, with over 300 partners and suppliers spread out in over 20 cities.”
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Zaraye was initiated by Institute of Business Administration graduates Hashair Junaid Ahmedani, Taha Iqbal Teli, and Ahsan Ali Khan.
In Pakistan’s industrial manufacturing sector, 60-65 percent of the total costs for manufacturers are contributed by raw materials, as stated by the statement.
“In conditions where net margins are thin, finding efficiency in costs becomes critical for these businesses to win orders and sustain against competition locally and globally,” the company’s statement proclaimed.
Besides, it also stated that small and medium enterprises had always found a huge financing issue for their businesses from financial institutions, and were “forced to turn to informal markets with ~2.5x premiums.”
Addressing this issue, one of the company’s founders Ahmed Ali Khan said: “We aim to strengthen the backbone of the country’s economy by helping entrepreneurs find avenues to optimise and scale.”
“Zaraye will help our partners to compete locally and globally as they find more savings in time and money to create the best products. With the confidence of amazing investors in Zaraye, we are geared to supercharge our mission to reach millions of users,” he added.
Furthermore, the company’s statement further underlined “This process is long, tedious and brings very limited options for the buyers to make a decision,” adding that through Zaraye, consumers of raw materials could easily post their requirements for the requisite product and the appropriate suppliers could furnish quotes in real-time, “making the information for buying decisions vast and quick”.
