KARACHI: CreditBook, a Pakistani fintech that helps micro-entrepreneurs digitise and keep record of their transactions, has raised $11 million in its latest round of funding, it announced in a statement on Friday.

The round was led by renowned venture capital firms Tiger Global and Firstminute Capital, both of which have invested in Pakistan for the first time. Other investors included VentureSouq, Ratio Ventures and i2i Ventures, said a Dawn.com report quoting the company’s statement.

In addition, angel investors included Julian Shapiro, Turner Novak, Sriram Krishnan, and operators from companies such as Airbnb, Microsoft, Robinhood and Lazada, the statement said.

The latest funding will enable CreditBook to “strengthen its team, focus on value-added features for cash flow management and position itself as a leading financial service provider for small business owners”.

The start-up, launched in 2020, is the “leading digital bookkeeping solution” among micro-entrepreneurs in Pakistan, according to the statement.

Its app is being used in more than 400 towns and cities of the country and has seen an increase of 10 times in the number of its users which signals “strong product-led growth”.

John Curtis, a partner at Tiger Global, termed the investment a “testament to the incredible traction and vision demonstrated by the [CreditBook] team”.

First­minute Capital’s Sam Endacott said, “We have been studying [Pakistan] and understand the country is at an inflection point seen before in other emerging markets. This, coupled with the quality of the team, means CreditBook has the chance to build a category leader in Pakistan Fintech.”

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2021