Bazaar

In 2020, childhood friends Saad Jangda and Hamza Jawaid launched Bazaar in Karachi, Pakistan. Their goal was to build a generation-defining company that would put Pakistan on the global technology map. They targeted the country's highly fragmented retail market, comprised of millions of small, family-owned "kiryana" stores. These stores faced immense procurement challenges, dealing with dozens of individual suppliers and distributors, which created massive inefficiency. Bazaar introduced a B2B e-commerce platform, a mobile app that serves as a one-stop-shop for these retailers to source inventory from manufacturers and wholesalers. The platform offers a vast assortment of products with next-day delivery, simplifying operations for merchants. This initial model attracted significant investor interest, leading to a $1.3 million pre-seed round in June 2020, followed by a $70 million Series B round in March 2022, led by prominent investors like Tiger Global Management and Dragoneer Investment Group. The company's playbook expanded beyond just commerce. Recognizing that many of its retail partners were unbanked, Bazaar launched digital lending and bookkeeping solutions. This strategy culminated in a major move in mid-2025 with the acquisition of Keenu, a digital payments platform. This acquisition, approved by the State Bank of Pakistan, was a first for a major local e-commerce company, allowing Bazaar to create an integrated ecosystem of commerce and fintech services under one roof.