ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani startup providing financial and logistics solutions to online merchants is set to launch its services in Saudi Arabia and the entire United Arab Emirates in the coming week after successfully launching a pilot project in Dubai earlier this year, a top company official confirmed on Saturday.
Founded in 2020, PostEx provides a hybrid solution combining receivables factoring and courier services, offering upfront payment for invoice values to e-commerce companies using cash on delivery as a payment option.
According to one of its cofounders, PostEx surpassed an annual recurring revenue of $21 million last year, reached profitability and is currently handling over four million transactions every month.
In 2022, PostEx acquired a Pakistani logistics service named Call Courier, which enabled the startup to expand its presence from three major markets to over 650 cities in a single step.
“As soon as we launched our pilot project with minimum viable product (MVP) services about one and half months back in Dubai, more than 3,500 stores were registered, which showed that the response is quite massive over there,” Babar Razzaq, the company’s cofounder and chief technology officer, told Arab News.
“The same merchandise also has footprints in Saudi Arabia and they are also waiting for us to be there,” he continued. “So, we will be launching our full range of products next week in both the kingdom and the entire UAE.”
Asked about the company’s strategy during the pilot project, Razzaq said the full product is yet to be launched, as only some of its features had been introduced earlier to gauge the market response.
“MVP included order management solution, inventory solution and warehouse management solution,” he explained. “Now we are working on launching our main feature of financial solution.”
The PostEx official added Saudi Arabia was a vast market with great potential, hoping his company would be able to tap more opportunities by providing better financial solutions.
“We will be leading there just like Pakistan very soon,” he said.
Razzaq said PostEx had raised $7.3 million this month in an all-equity funding round led by Dubai-based Conjunction Capital to plan its market expansion into Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“The $7.3 million raised is designated for expanding into Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with plans to invest heavily in these markets, where significant capital is needed for lending to e-commerce players,” he continued.
He noted that online merchants in Pakistan faced growth challenges and working capital issues due to the 10- to 15-day delay in settling cash-on-delivery transactions.
“We addressed their financial issues by offering upfront payment equivalent to the retail price of their product,” he informed.
Before the pre-Series A round, Razzaq mentioned that PostEx had secured $8.6 million from investors such as Global Founder Capital, MSA Capital, and Shorooq Partners in 2021.
Pakistani startup to launch financial and logistics services in Saudi Arabia and UAE next week
https://arab.news/jkbta
Pakistani startup to launch financial and logistics services in Saudi Arabia and UAE next week
- Founded in 2020, PostEx secured $7.3 million funding to expand its footprint in the Middle Eastern market
- Earlier, it managed a successful pilot project in Dubai where more than 3,500 stores registered with it
Pakistan assembly speaker, Indian FM shake hands in first high-level contact since May
- Tensions persist between India and Pakistan after they engaged in brief military conflict in May this year
- Pakistan assembly speaker, Indian FM both attend former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia’s funeral in Dhaka
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shook hands in Dhaka on Wednesday, establishing the first high-level contact between officials of both countries since their brief military conflict in May.
Sadiq and Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka to attend the funeral of Bangladesh’s first female prime minister Khaleda Zia, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 80 after prolonged illness. Diplomats from several countries attended Zia’s funeral on Wednesday, which drew large crowds to the Bangladeshi capital.
Tensions persist between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, who engaged in a four-day military conflict in May this year. The conflict was triggered when India blamed Pakistan for supporting a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir in April that killed over 20 tourists. Pakistan denied involvement and called for a transparent probe into the incident.
“Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, exchanges greetings with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Dhaka on Wednesday ahead of the funeral program of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia,” the official X account of Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Younus wrote.
https://x.com/ChiefAdviserGoB/status/2006340330585833665
Sadiq also met Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, the acting chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), to convey condolences over his mother’s demise from the people and government of Pakistan, the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh said.
“During the meeting, he recalled Begum Zia’s remarkable political leadership and noted her pivotal role in promoting historical affinities, mutual respect and cooperation between our two nations,” the high commission wrote on social media platform X.
https://x.com/PakinBangladesh/status/2006313161088204976
Senior officials from both India and Pakistan have refrained from shaking hands or exchanging pleasantries since the May conflict, as tensions persist between the two sides.
The May conflict saw both countries exchange artillery fire, pound each other with fighter jets and trade missiles and drone strikes before Washington brokered a ceasefire on May 10.
Sadiq is expected to meet senior officials of Bangladesh’s interim government during his trip, according to an earlier statement issued by his office.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had described Zia as a “committed friend of Pakistan” on Tuesday, praising her role in Bangladesh’s political life and expressing solidarity with the Bangladeshi people during what he called a difficult moment.
Zia, who served three terms as prime minister, led the BNP and remained a central figure in Bangladeshi politics despite years of ill health and imprisonment under the government of her longtime rival, Sheikh Hasina. She was released last year following Hasina’s ouster after a violent uprising.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the same country until Bangladesh’s secession following a bloody civil war in 1971, an event that has long cast a shadow over bilateral ties. Relations remained largely strained for decades, shaped by historical grievances and political mistrust.
However, Islamabad enjoyed comparatively warmer ties with Dhaka during Zia’s tenure than under Hasina.
Engagement between Islamabad and Dhaka has increased since Hasina’s removal and the formation of an interim administration, with both sides signaling interest in improving political, diplomatic, economic and security ties.
