Online reselling startup Markaz Technologies raises $2.4m in seed funding

Published May 10, 2022
The team of Islamabad-based startup Markaz Technologies that provides an online reselling platform. — Markaz Technologies
The team of Islamabad-based startup Markaz Technologies that provides an online reselling platform. — Markaz Technologies

Islamabad-based startup Markaz Technologies on Tuesday announced it had secured $2.4 million in seed funding led by Indus Valley Capital (IVC).

The investment round would also be joined by angel investors, including Kyane Kassiri from Suya Fund and executives from Careem, Deloitte, Amazon and Gojek, Markaz said in a press release.

Markaz Technologies is a Y-Combinator-backed — the prestigious US-based accelerator — startup that provides an online reselling platform to anyone in Pakistan to source wholesale products from across the country and sell them with a profit through their own social media stores, without any investment of their own.

Markaz says it is on a mission to "supercharge the rails of e-commerce and make it accessible for masses in Pakistan by empowering these micro-entrepreneurs".

"Markaz is building for all of Pakistan, with the ambition of enabling those in smaller cities and villages to source products directly from wholesalers and suppliers," the press release quoted IVC Founder and Managing Partner Aatif Awan as saying.

Awan said the startup would also create "hundreds of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs" along the way and bring them into the financial ecosystem. "We, at IVC, are thrilled to partner with Markaz in helping them realise their mission," he said.

The startup was founded in the last quarter of 2021 by Shoaib Khan, Fawad Hussain, Sameel Hayat and Umair Aslam — who have worked in Pakistan and across the globe in large-scale tech organisations like Telenor, Amazon, Easypaisa and Alipay.

Markaz will utilise the investment from the successful funding round to further scale and develop its mobile platform and improve user experience by enhancing delivery operations, payments and customer servicing.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Dangerous times
Updated 14 Feb, 2025

Dangerous times

Pakistan accounted for six journalist killings in 2024, of which three were deliberately murdered, according to the CPJ.
Difficult target
14 Feb, 2025

Difficult target

A ONE-two punch delivered by an unforeseen, sharp dip in inflation and an extremely slim base of taxpayers is...
Amazing show
14 Feb, 2025

Amazing show

PAKISTAN’S ability to turn it up at the flick of a switch remains uninhibited. The latest show came in...
Trump’s folly
Updated 13 Feb, 2025

Trump’s folly

This latest pronouncement only reinforces the fears of those who see the plan as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.
Corruption ranking
13 Feb, 2025

Corruption ranking

IT comes as little surprise. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, unveiled on...
Support from remittances
13 Feb, 2025

Support from remittances

EVEN though workers’ remittances dipped, albeit negligibly, in January on a month-over-month basis, the earnings...