KARACHI: Local fintech platform NayaPay has raised $13 million in one of the largest seed rounds in South Asia, a press release said on Wednesday.

NayaPay recently secured the first E-Money Institution (EMI) licence from the central bank. It aims to make financial services simpler and accessible with its two-sided platform for the underbanked.

Zayn Capital, global fund manager MSA Novo and early-stage venture-capitalist Graph Ventures from Silicon Valley led the round. Singapore-based Saison Capital, Waleed Saigol’s Maple Leaf Capital and Warren Hogarth, CEO of Empower Finance, also participated in the round alongside the sponsors of the Lakson Group.

It’s been in a private beta, building a community of early supporters for its consumer proposition — a chat-led super app accompanied by free Visa Virtual and physical cards. Any Pakistani can open a NayaPay wallet on their smartphone in minutes and use the app to make every day payments, send and receive money and split bills. For merchants, it offers access to universal payments acceptance and financial management tools with an easy-to-open business account and Visa card.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2022