Pakistan’s e-commerce platform, PriceOye, has raised $7.9 million in a seed funding round led by US-based JAM Fund. Many business unicorns were also seen participating in the event. Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies also took part in the seed funding and this was its first investment in Pakistan.
Moreover, Beenext, Tokopedia, DG Daiwa, Mantis VC, HOF Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Atlas Ventures, Mercury Bank, Souq, Fatima Gobi Ventures, SOSV, and Artistic Ventures were also a part of the event.
PriceOye is an accomplished marketplace for electronics, with recommendations based on the consumer’s requirements. It helps consumers to make informed decisions while purchasing electronic products. This e-commerce platform consists of a product recommendation engine, which is used by consumers for product research before purchasing it. This unique feature has been one of the important drivers of bringing over two million monthly users to PriceOye.Pk’s platform.
The founders of the startup, Adnan Shaffi and Adeel Shaffi, claim to have achieved 500 % revenue growth year-on-year and plan to add new products and categories to the company by expanding its partner network.
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The CEO of the company, Adna Shaffi expressed himself as;
“PriceOye was hence designed to bring transparency and convenience to the shopping experience and has the highest net promoter score, which measures customer experience and loyalty. As we plan for the next phase of our growth, we are excited to partner with new investors who have placed their trust in us.”
Additionally, the founder and partner of Mantis VC, Alex Pall added;
“Within a short period, PriceOye has grown exponentially and has cemented its position as the leading national company in online consumer electronics. We are excited to join PriceOye in its mission towards changing the way people shop in Pakistan.”
PayPal founder and billionaire investor Peter Thiel invests in Pakistan's startup space for the first time
Thiel participates in PriceOye's round
It sells consumer electronics such as mobile phones and raised $8 million in seed funding
— Faseeh Mangi (@FaseehMangi) August 30, 2022
Likewise, Seamon Chan, managing partner of Palm Drive Capital commented on the investment;
“It’s always a difficult choice for consumers to spend big amounts of money on high-value products while being unsure about their authenticity. I was inspired by the vision of PriceOye founders Adnan and Adeel of creating transparency and bringing convenience to customers when it comes to shopping for consumer electronics.”
PriceOye is Pakistan’s first specialized electronics e-commerce store, as previously it had no national chain like the BestBuy in US and Croma in India. Almost 50% of consumer electronics are sold online in the US, whereas the Pakistani market is mostly offline as people are hesitant to buy online as they are unsure about the authenticity of the products.
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Reflecting on Pakistan’s startup ecosystem having recently struggled with dried-up venture capital funding and difficult decisions, including downsizing and closure. Thankfully, the consumer electronics market in the country has experienced exponential growth of 7.1% between 2016 and 2020.
The CEO of SI Global Solutions, Noman Ahmed also congratulated the company on its growth.
“The joyous news of Pakistani tech startups receiving an outpouring of foreign funding is certainly a cause for celebration and marks the hopeful onset of brighter horizons and is very welcome news in the current economic distress that Pakistan is facing.”
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Conclusively, in the era of globalization skills like technopreneurship and social innovation have taken over the reins of the global market. These skills have helped PriceOye to become one of the leading (Business to Consumer) B2C e-commerce platforms with exponential growth.