LAHORE: Sarmayacar, a syndicate of foreign investors to promote Pakistani startups has announced Rs. 25 million Seed funding for SimPaisa which is Pakistan’s first direct carrier billing company, a product of PublishEx(Pvt.) Ltd.
Many online businesses have struggled to generate real revenue growth due to the lack of a simple, one click payment system that allows recurring payments. SimPaisa enables digital businesses to monetize their products better by allowing their customers to make online payments using their existing SIM card balance. SimPaisa is the only payment system in Pakistan to offer this service.
Due to the lack of trust in online credit card payments, SimPaisa allows users to enjoy the benefits of premium services without the necessary risks involved. For merchants, SimPaisa allows for applications to be monetized, tapping into the 140 million plus SIM subscriber market.
The capital raised will be used to further invest in SimPaisa, expand the merchant network and scale the operations to other countries. The payment platform through its data analytics will allow merchants to optimize conversions by providing insights that the merchants can further develop using artificial intelligence. As part of the financing, Bernhard Klemen, Partner at Sarmayacar, will join PublishEx’s Board of Directors.
“The mobile payment solutions offered by SimPaisa gives 110 million potential customers a more convenient, secure and fast way to pay for and access digital offerings, in particular media, gaming and insurance related products. For merchants and service providers, SimPaisa offers better conversions, longer lasting client relationships and more flexible payment solutions as well as analytics. For its telecommunication partners, SimPaisa significantly enhances their service portfolio while allowing for higher revenues, so it is a win-win-win proposition with solid traction and attractive growth potential,” said Bernhard Klemen.
“We wanted to bring in a simple secure payment mechanism that didn’t require the customer to have a credit card, bank account or a third party mobile wallet which would need to be constantly topped up. Through our existing teleco relationships we will now be able to offer 11 international markets to our merchants,” said Salim Karim, Co-Founder and CEO of SimPaisa.
“Ideas are easy but implementation in the local environment is hard; however, the startup environment in Pakistan is improving drastically every year. It is difficult and time consuming to raise smart capital in the region but we are excited to realize the synergies and the potential coming with this investment. We can now focus on our core products and believe that the kind of experience and network new investors bring will help our business grow faster and expand across the MEENA region,” said Yassir Pasha, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SimPaisa.
SimPaisa is already working with multiple international and local merchants and is engaging major players like Gaana, Hangama, Sony Liv and Adolf Games. They have already conducted over 200,000 transactions through their carrier-billing gateway.
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