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Pakistani startupPostEx , offering financial and logistics services to on-line merchants , is plant to enter new market , start with Saudi Arabia this year , TechCrunch has exclusively learned .
“ We want to go into other markets to really disrupt them because we see the gap , ” say Muhammad Omer Khan , founder and CEO of PostEx , in an interview .
on-line merchandiser in Pakistan find it challenging to confirm their business organization and accomplish growth , as 95 % of transactions are paid with cash on delivery . Courier companies in the South Asian country take 10 to 15 days to settle those minutes from the dispatch time to delivery . All this go to function capital issue for online merchant .
In 2020 , Khan institute PostEx to puzzle out these issues by giving merchant upfront payment against hard cash - on - pitch orders and an attached logistics armed service . After getting regulate as a non - bank financial institution in Pakistan , the startup also launched a growth Das Kapital offering for on-line merchandiser . However , to reduce risks , the startup does not cater staring financial documentation to merchants , and only gives them credit if they use its logistics military service .
Khan assure TechCrunch that this model has helped PostEx keep its non - performing loans below 0.03 % since origination .
“ [ W]e control the period of the funds , mean that if we are giving the credit , we ’re doing the deliveries on our own , and then we ’re collecting the John Cash immediately from the consumer , ” he allege .
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The co - founder sum up that of its active 15,000 merchandiser fundament , over 80 % of merchant have signed up purely for upfront requital with logistics , while the remaining 20 % are using only its logistics service .
Initially , PostEx take up the fiscal service from its own equity , as Pakistan ’s capital ascendence make it heavy to leaven substantial debt from traditional loaner . However , as it scaled and got a proven telephone number of merchandiser and credit - payback account , the inauguration began work with conventional money box to allow loans to merchant directly from their balance sheet .
PostEx enlarge its logistics step in Pakistan byacquiring rival Call Courierin August 2022 . The acquisition assist the inauguration grow its market from three key markets to over 650 city in one go . It also enabled onboarding smaller businesses and enterprise customer — alongside large merchandiser — to become a countrywide Robert William Service for tocopherol - Commerce Department companies of all sizes .
Khan read that just over a year after Call Courier ’s acquisition , PostEx became profitable in November last class . It also recently crossed an annual recurring revenue pace of $ 21 million , with 4 million monthly transactions and projects to surpass $ 25 million by the closing of this year .
“ There is no cost of acquisition , except there is only just the cost of debt or cost of upper-case letter , ” he said . “ So , we are focalize on healthier security deposit for profitability … we ’re growing 10–15 % month - on - month . ”
Entering new markets with $7.3 million in new funding
The inauguration has now raised $ 7.3 million in an all - fairness backing round lead by Dubai - headquartered Conjunction Capital to sketch out its marketplace elaboration , which plans to go beyond Saudi Arabia and extend to the United Arab Emirates ( UAE ) over fourth dimension .
In the next three months , PostEx plans to enter Saudi Arabia . The inauguration also looks to raise another bout of $ 15 million to double down in the young market . Talks for the new round with investor are on-going , Khan assert .
PostEx is also testing its political platform in the UAE and already has a license for financing . It design to launch there after successfully crack the Saudi Arabian market .
For Saudi Arabia , Khan secern TechCrunch that PostEx will go for for a financing license with the local governor , the Saudi Central Bank . Meanwhile , it has started a pilot in the country with a fistful of small and average on-line merchants and one or two magnanimous players by tying up with local funding better half .
At the same meter , PostEx be after to expand its presence in Pakistan , inflate its head count of 6,500 across 600 cities to 9,000 by the conclusion of the year .
“ We anticipate development in certain city more as compared to other metropolis . So we invest in those city more , ” Khan said .
The inauguration is also test a digital payments service for on-line merchant in Pakistan , allowing them to digitise payments at the doorstep or checkout varlet . It already offer an disbursal direction system to merchants to help them manage wage , supplier and trafficker payments , and write down through a single portal .
PostEx ’s most recent round also saw participation from Dash Ventures and Sanabil 500 , as well as from its existing investor VSQ , FJ Labs and Zayn VC . Before this round , the startup heighten $ 8.6 million .
