Tech Week in Pakistan (Issue 25: 17th August)

This weekly newsletter focuses on the most important new developments within Pakistan’s Technology Sector. To receive this newsletter on a weekly basis subscribe to our mailing list (no spam ever) or follow me on Twitter @adamdawood. Previous instalments of the newsletter can be found here.

Line & Asani Start TV Ads

Line has begun television commercials within Pakistan and according to a press release by the company, its app has managed to get to the 2nd spot in the top free applications of the App Store within 3 days. This may be the first messaging app to start advertising in Pakistan, and the response seems to be very strong. It currenlt also stands at 5th in the Communications category on the Play Store. The Country Lead for Line said that “we will be partnering with local Pakistani artists and personalities to provide locally-tailored stickers and features for our users in Pakistan”.

Asani.com.pk a classified venture funded by Schbisted has begun its television and radio commercials in the last week. They are competing against OLX who regularly advertise on all major television stations. The classified market is an interesting one to start advertising so quickly as neither of these companies will be able to effectively monetize their product offering easily. Both OLX and Asani want to establish themselves as the respective leaders in the market and aim for revenues later on.

Line Launches to Top | Asani TVC

NEW-G & Injaz Launch Seed Funding Platform

New-G a collective formed to help promote entrepreneurship within Pakistan and Injaz an off-shoot of the Aman Foundation focused on building business leaders has come together to launch a program called Business Startup Launch (BSL). The program, though crudely named, wants to help bring about a program of funding entrepreneurs and providing mentorship. The program is said to have received 10 applications for the first batch, the number of batches they expect to run every year is not mentioned.

New-G | Tribune |

PK Startups

Two friends have taken it upon themselves to start doing interviews with local startup founders. These interviews by in large are very comprehensive and provide great insights into the challenges of setting up a business in Pakistan.

PK Startups | Shopistan | Caramel Tech | TinTash | Discretelogix | Arbisoft

Other News:

• Umar Saif Awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz | TechJuice
• P@SHA Accepting Nominations for Annual ICT Awards | P@SHA
• Hafeez Centre: The Home of Tech Gadgets in Lahore | ProPakistani
• Markhor Expands into Accessories| ProPakistani
• PTCL to Retire VFone Services | ProPakistani
• Daraz.pk gets 48% of its orders from outside the 3 major cities | Tribune

Disclosure Statement: I am currently employed as Country Manager of Kaymu.pk, a venture funded by Rocket Internet. All news pertaining to Kaymu, Rocket Internet or any of their investors and holdings are released as and when they are reported in the media.

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Tech Week in Pakistan (Issue 24: 10th August)

Apologies for the two week delay in the newsletter. Since my last newsletter I have taken the post of Country Manager at Kaymu.pk and with my team will build this Rocket Internet funded venture as Pakistan’s leading eCommerce firm. The weekly newsletter will continue to be published on a weekly basis.

This weekly newsletter focuses on the most important new developments within Pakistan’s Technology Sector. To receive this newsletter on a weekly basis subscribe to our mailing list (no spam ever) or follow me on Twitter @adamdawood. Previous instalments of the newsletter can be found here.

eCommerce across the Sub-Continent

The Economic Times of India had at the end of last month created an infographic on eCommerce across the sub-continent. The infographic focuses primarily on the Pakistani firms given their greater size and impact (did not include Indian startups). The author followed up the infographic by conducting an interview with Shaayan Tahir of HomeShopping.pk and a review of the eCommerce industry.

Homeshopping.pk is currently employing 60 people, with 40 of them being housewives who write content. This year they are expected to launch a home shopping TV channel to cater to the large number of TV viewers in the country. They also forecast their sales to reach $10 million this year.

Infographic | Interview with Shayaan Tahir | eCommerce Review

Daraz.pk Expands into Electronics and Beauty Items

Daraz.pk (funded by Rocket Internet — see disclosure statement below) has expanded their product lines from fashion, accessories and shoes into mobile phones and general household items. They have already partnered with Unilever to make their products available online. A Unilever VP stipulated that the eCommerce industry in Pakistan is expected to grow to PKR 4 billion over the next 5 years, from its current PKR 1.5 billion.

Daraz.pk | Unilever Partnership | ProPakistani

Warid Launches Mobile Paisa

Warid and Bank Alfalah have launched its answer to branchless banking, under the Mobile Paisa brand name. They have started with 10,000 agents across 500 cities and will be offering services such as money transfer, bill payment and a mobile wallet solution.

In other branchless banking news, it seems Telenor’s EasyPaisa, which started in late 2009, had by 2012 completed 100 million transactions with a total $1.4 billion in transaction volume.

ProPakistani | Telenor Results

Other News:

• Nielsen finds Consumer Confidence is Higher in Pakistan | Pakistan Today | Nielsen
• Pakistan Joins 3D Printing Revolution | Haq’s Musing
• Government wants to make a working group to create a strategic plan of implementing an eCommerce gateway | Dawn
• Promising Pakistani Startups | Asian Entrepreneur
• Pakistan’s MicroFinance banking is better than Bangladesh | Pakistan Today
• New Telenor CEO vows to increase innovation | Tribune
• The Media in Pakistan | The Diplomat
• Askari Bank Launches World MasterCard Credit Card | ProPakistani
• PTCL Launches 36Mbps Evo | ProPakistani

Disclosure Statement: I am currently employed as Country Manager of Kaymu.pk, a venture funded by Rocket Internet. All news pertaining to Kaymu, Rocket Internet or any of their investors and holdings are released as and when they are reported in the media.

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