Pakistani FinTech Raises $1 Million in Seed Funding

Finja, a FinTech startup founded by Qasif Shahid, Monis Rahman and Umer Munawar, announced today that it has raised $1 Million in seed funding round led by Stockholm based Vostok Emerging Finance.

Finja said that it will use the investment for a mobile wallet product that they are hoping to launch commercially later this year.

Finja said that its goal is to offer innovative financial services to Pakistan’s rapidly growing digitally literate population by displacing cash.

When asked that how Finja’s mobile wallet will be any different from other available products in the market, Qasif Shahid told ProPakistani that his startup is aiming to disrupt the mobile wallet industry at three levels:

• Price
• Process
• Functionality

Qasif explained that his mobile wallet will be come without any service charges (unlike currently available wallets that come with a fee for doing transactions) for both the senders/receivers or for both the buyers and the sellers.

He went on to claim that his startup is also smoothing the process for customers to get onboard and finally making it more lucrative and viable for consumers through added functionality that’s otherwise not available in the market.

Qasif said that as Pakistanis continue to rapidly adopt digital mediums, there is an opportunity to transform lives by re-inventing business models and removing friction through digital interventions.

Monis Rahman, a co-founder at Finja, commented on the funding and said that this initial seed financing round will enable Finja to demonstrate the power of digital-by-design financial services and is just the beginning of their journey.

As a result of the round, Vostok Emerging Finance Managing Director, David Nangle, will join Finja’s board of directors and play a key role in helping guide the company with the fund’s extensive experience in growing FinTech led initiatives in emerging markets.

“We are delighted to partner with a truly world-class team in one of the most exciting FinTech markets globally with massive untapped potential,” said David Nangle, “Pakistan’s rapidly growing 3G/4G enabled smartphone subscribers, supported by a progressive regulatory framework, are a game changer for providing digital financial services to the country’s 200 million under-banked population.”

Finja will partner with a Micro-finance bank for rolling out its mobile wallet. While the pilot has been deployed already, the commercial launch of Finja’s wallet should surface around Q4 of 2016.