Pakistani startup Safepay bags funding from Stripe

A Karachi based startup Safepay has raised seed funding from a global financial technology company called Stripe.

Ziyad Parekh and Raza Naqvi founded the startup in 2019, which became the first fintech company to have graduated from the Y Combinator in the 2020 batch.

Through the Y Combinator program, the startup had initially raised a standard of 150,000$.

The company is basically a payment gateway for online businesses and other startups which enables them to receive card payments from their customers.

“We feel well-positioned with the right partners backing us to help build on the increasing volume of digital payments as well as work with other Pakistani fintechs to further our vision," Parekh said in a press release.

The company has now been scaled up to over 300 merchants and businesses in the country.

However, the services went offline for a year as the startup aimed at further acceleration and expansion which required a framework with key financial partners.

According to the co-founders, the company aims to launch all the complete services once proper arrangements have been made with the State Bank of Pakistan.

“We want to work in improving digital payment infrastructure in Pakistan to decrease the reliance on cash and other OTC transactions, regardless if this is in a business-to-customer, business-to-business or government-person context.”

The fintech plans to use the new funds to focus on investing in engineering talent to increase digital payment acceptance in Pakistan beyond credit and debit cards, including mobile wallets and bank accounts.