Pakistan's best-funded startup nears profit after fintech deal

With over half of Pakistan’s population under the age of 30, Bazaar sees fintech as an opportunity to draw tech-savvy users to its services.

Bazaar Technologies Pvt. expects to hit profitability in coming quarters, a milestone for a five-year-old startup trying to build Pakistan’s biggest e-commerce and fintech platform.

Hamza Jawaid, who co-founded Bazaar in 2020 with high-school buddy Saad Jangda, hopes to build a service for the world’s fifth-most populous nation along the lines of China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and South America’s MercadoLibre Inc. The startup took a step in that direction when it completed the acquisition of digital payments platform Keenu this week.

Backed by Tiger Global Management, Bazaar is a poster-child for a nascent Pakistani tech industry that’s attracted big-name investors despite economic turbulence. It’s endured despite several high-profile corporate failures and retreats in recent years.

“Right now we have a very strong balance sheet, which is why we were able to make more inroads and make this acquisition,” Jawaid told Bloomberg News.

Since its founding, Bazaar has secured $100 million via two rounds of funding — a record for a Pakistani startup. Its other backers include Defy Partners Management LLC, Wavemaker Partners LLC and Dragoneer Investment Group.

Jawaid said he isn’t actively seeking more capital, focusing instead on expanding a company that started out helping merchants buy inventory or manage their own platforms. It began direct consumer sales in 2024.

With over half of Pakistan’s population under the age of 30, Bazaar sees fintech as an opportunity to draw tech-savvy users to its services. Jawaid aims to build an end-to-end shopping and payment system for Pakistan: a model common in the US and China, where the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Alibaba aim to control the online experience for consumers and merchants.

Bazaar’s acquisition, Keenu, links merchants in over 150 cities across Pakistan, while also operating mobile wallets and digital payments.