Pakistani agri-tech startup raises $2 million in pre-seed round

A tractor passes by as farmers work in a field in Lahore on October 14, 2020. (AFP)

• Tazah Technologies plans to work with small and medium agricultural sellers to provide innovative supply chain solutions
• Company founders both come from central Punjab, known for its agricultural produce, and privy to challenges faced by farmers

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani technological firm that aims to provide innovative supply chain solutions to the country’s agricultural sector has raised $2 million in a pre-seed round let by Global Founders Capital and Zayn Capital, Tech Crunch reported on Wednesday.
Tazah Technologies, a B2B agriculture marketplace, was launched two months ago by Pakistani entrepreneurs Abrar Bajwa and Mohsin Zaka who previously worked with a ride-hailing company in leadership positions.
The founders of the firm said they both belonged to central Punjab, an area known for its agricultural produce and were aware of the challenges faced by the country’s farming sector.
According to Tech Crunch, Pakistan’s agricultural sector contributes about 24 percent to the country’s gross domestic product, though its supply chains were “fragmented and complicated” that led to spiraling food prices in the country.
“We have spent months in wholesale markets, we’ve interviewed hundreds of retailers and we got to know that standardization of product is needed in Pakistan,” Bajwa told Tech Crunch in an interview. “We get into the bottom of operations, because retailers will know what exactly is in the sack.”
The company’s cofounder added: “We’re not just a box-moving operation because in one sack of potatoes, there can be multiple rotten potatoes, so you don’t want to just buy from farmers and then give to retailers. That doesn’t add a lot of value.”
Tazah Technologies plans to help small and medium agricultural sellers who are mostly overlooked in the industry.
Its founders say “agriculture has been a mostly ignored sector in Pakistan from a technology perspective” and hope more agri-tech startups will emerge in the future to address the problems of local farmers.
Pakistan’s startup ecosystem has received a major boost this year, with local firms getting over $228 million in investment just in the first eight months of 2021, compared to $77 million in 2020, according to Ignite, a Pakistani government-owned non-profit company. 
A group of young startups have made splashy funding announcements in recent weeks.
Quick-commerce startup Airlift unveiled a record $85 million Series B round last month, followed by business-to-business (B2B) venture Bazaar’s record $30 million Series A round. Last month, Tag, a one-year-old Pakistani startup that offers banking and financial services, raised over $12 million in what is now the largest seed financing round in Pakistan, and Oraan raised $3 million in the largest seed funding closed by a women-led startup in the country.
“I am very pleased to see that during the period Jan-Sep 2021, Pakistani startups raised a record USD 305 million of investment globally. The sectors include e-commerce, fintech, health and freight,” Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood said on Twitter earlier this week.
“As we are move forward, I urge our startups to look into the agriculture sector which has a lot of potential,” the adviser said, challenging Pakistani startups to touch $1 billion in investment by the end of the year.