KARACHI: Oraan, a Karachi-based gender-inclusive fintech, has raised $3 million in the largest seed funding closed by a local women-led startup.

The investment was co-led by Zayn Capital and Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Resolution Ventures, i2i Ventures, Hustle Fund, Haitou Global, Plug and Play, and angels like Claire Diaz-Ortiz, a former partner at Magma Partners, who has also come on board as an adviser to the company.

Previously, the fintech had raised financing from Tharros, Zayn Capital, an angel syndicate led by Google executives, and Graph Ventures, bringing its total funding raised to date to just over $4m.

Oraan was founded in 2018 by Halima Iqbal, a former investment banker, and Farwah Tapal, a design strategist, says a Dawn.com report quoting a statement issued by the company.

“Oraan was founded when we realised that the large majority of the Pakistani population struggles to access financial services simply because they are not designed for them,” said Iqbal. “While there is a demand among women for credit, insurance and savings services, they are unable to approach financial institutions due to mistrust, complexity of products and challenges around mobility.”

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2021