QisstPay, which is one of Pakistan’s first Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services, recently revealed that they’ve secured $15 million in capital as part of their seed and pre-seed rounds with “a mix of equity and debt.”
MSA Capital reportedly led QisstPay‘s investment round, with institutional investment participation from Global Founders Capital; Fox Ventures, First Check Ventures; and a series of angel investments from Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski, Co-Founders of Scalapay, who “recently raised a $155M Series A round at a $700M valuation;” Ashley Davies, former CFO of Venmo and current Sylp CFO; former C Suite at Affirm; Adam Mawdesley, VP of Partnerships & Product at Splitit; and United Bank Limited of Pakistan.
As mentioned in a release shared with Crowdfund Insider:
“QisstPay is an installment payment service for emerging markets. They are addressing the lack of flexibility, integration, and the hidden fees currently plaguing Pakistan’s payments landscape by giving customers an efficient, adaptable, interest free platform. When chosen at checkout, QisstPay allows customers to pay for their purchase in installments with 0% interest and no late fees.”
QisstPay allows Pakistan’s residents to pay for daily items, effectively developing improved cash management in what is “otherwise considered a very cash-driven society.”
The majority of people living in Pakistan don’t have the financial background to “get approved for credit cards and therefore rely on QisstPay to help them manage their day to day expenses,” the announcement explained.
QisstPay aims to address this by allowing consumers to purchase the items they require such as phone service and food, and pay for it over time.
Co-Founder and CEO Jordan Olivas is an ex- Klarna worker who was “critical in the launch of the company’s Pay In 4 solution, one of the world’s biggest BNPL platforms.”
The announcement also noted that after moving to Pakistan in 2021, Olivas had noticed “the lack of working financial services plaguing the fifth largest population in the world.” That’s why he decided to create a platform with his co-founder, Saad Ahmed, that “took the globally successful blueprint of BNPL, and altered it to fit the needs of Pakistani citizens.”
“After moving here to Pakistan, I noticed how badly the people of this country need a financial tool to help them purchase goods and services that they not only want, but actually need,” stated Olivas.
He added:
“Over 60% of Pakistan’s population is under the age of 30, which means that the majority of the country is adopting new technologies. Yet, so many people still believe that Pakistan isn’t ready to adopt a BNPL system. The rapid growth and use of a platform like QisstPay proves otherwise.”
QisstPay is growing fast and has seen a 92% growth rate week-to -week.
At present, they serve more than 500 retailers in Pakistan, including Samsung, Camelbak, Diesel, Philips, Xiaomi, and Lenovo and regional platforms like Sapphire, Uniworth, Logo Shoes, and the largest Shopify store in the country, elo.
“Export leftovers has recently seen another high of hitting the fastest spike of 85% on average order value ever since we have started to offer Qisstpay BNPL to our customers,” added Umar Qamar Co-Founder of Elo, the largest shopify digital commerce brand in the Asian nation.
The proceeds from this round will be directed towards the expansion of QisstPay’s services and team. This includes “the funding of transactions and partnerships with traditional Pakistani financial institutions,” and they’re also expanding their services “to include Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”
By the end of 2021, the team is planning to expand their Islamabad-based team to more than 100 professionals.
“Pakistan is one of the most often overlooked countries when it comes to fintech investments,” stated Tim Chen, General Partner at MSA Capital.
Tim added:
“However, it’s also one of the countries with the most potential. We’re excited to be working with QisstPay to help bring one of the biggest global populations some much-needed financial services and tools. We’re not only investing in the company and its founders, we’re investing in their impact.”