According to CarFirst’s official LinkedIn page “CarFirst has decided to shut down operations in Pakistan.” The page also lists 365 employees who have added CarFirst as their employer on the professional networking and career development platform.
“We would like to thank our team, partners and most importantly our customers for their continued support throughout our journey,” post added.
A team will remain in place to handle closing of the entity, and to respond to queries from partners and customers throughout the closing period.
CarFirst was launched in late 2016 and served as a middleman, purchasing vehicles from individuals and selling them to dealers through online auctions. Company got 89 million$ funding in last six years.
Read more: Car sales in Pakistan drop by 58%
The online platform provided car sellers a procedure to get their vehicles inspected and sold at a price within an hour, including the processing time for payment.
The company’s official statement reads “CarFirst has decided to shut down operations in Pakistan. We want to thank our team, partners, and most importantly our customers for their continued support throughout our journey. A team will stay in place to handle the entity’s closing and respond to queries from partners and customers throughout the closing period.”
CarFirst decides to shut down operations in Pakistan due to the country's faltering economy and directions from its main investor, OLX to cease operations in Pakistan. #CarFirst pic.twitter.com/HCVEcrYyGn
— The Pakistan Daily (@ThePakDaily) August 19, 2022
CarFirst is not the first tech-based company to get hit by the country’s volatile economic situation. The tech-based services sector in Pakistan is experiencing instability due to country’s terrible economic conditions, which have forced a number of players to pack up shop and quit their jobs.
VavaCars, supported by Dutch oil and commodity trading corporation Vitol, said earlier in June that it had ceased operations in Pakistan, just over eight months after it disclosed raising $50 million.
Read more: Pakistan’s top startup Airlift shuts down
Truck It In, another startup started in August 2020 to improve the efficiency of freight transit by linking truckers and shippers through its online platform, said that it is “recalibrating its strategy” and that certain staff “will be moving on to solve other challenges.”