KarloCompare

KarloCompare, operating under the legal entity CompareOn Pakistan Private Limited, was a financial technology firm established in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2015. The company was founded by two former bankers, Sumair Farooqui and Ali Ladhubhai. Farooqui previously served as the VP and Unit Lead for Wealth Management at United Bank Limited (UBL), while Ladhubhai managed main branch operations at HSBC before its acquisition by Meezan Bank. Their collective experience in the banking sector provided the foundational expertise to identify and address a gap in the Pakistani market for a centralized financial product comparison service.

The firm operated as an online comparison platform for personal finance products. Its core business was to provide a free-to-use web and mobile application that allowed consumers to discover, compare, and apply for a range of financial instruments. The platform aggregated information on credit cards, personal and auto loans, as well as travel and auto insurance, aiming to enhance financial literacy and transparency for Pakistani consumers. The service was designed to simplify the often tedious process of purchasing financial products by presenting comprehensive and unbiased information in one place.

KarloCompare's business model was based on lead generation and partnerships with financial institutions. The company generated revenue through conversion-based fees from its service partners, which included banks and insurance companies, for each successful customer acquisition originating from the platform. This model provided a new digital customer acquisition channel for partners, helping them lower their marginal cost of acquisition. The platform went live in April 2016 and quickly established partnerships with prominent providers like Jubilee General Insurance and EFU General Insurance.

The company secured two rounds of funding. The first was an angel round of an undisclosed seven-figure PKR amount in July 2016 from investors Hina Khawaja Bayat and Roger Dawood Bayat, who subsequently joined as Chairman of the Board. This was followed by a seed round in March 2018, with investment from TPL e-Ventures and Planet N Group. Despite these early successes and its aim to scale, the company ceased operations, with its status listed as 'Out of Business' as of October 2020. Post-KarloCompare, co-founder Ali Ladhubhai went on to co-found and become the COO of Abhi, a financial wellness platform.

Keywords: personal finance comparison, financial services platform, Pakistan fintech, loan comparison, credit card comparison, insurance aggregation, digital acquisition channel, lead generation, Sumair Farooqui, Ali Ladhubhai, CompareOn Pakistan, TPL e-Ventures, Planet N Group, online financial marketplace, consumer finance, auto loans, travel insurance, financial literacy, bank partnerships, Karachi startup, ex-banker founders