Investment in one of Pakistan’s leading B2C eCommerce platform will enable the startup to acquire customers, add new products and expand its network of partners
ISLAMABAD, August 30, 2022 – Pakistan’s eCommerce platform PriceOye.pk has raised $7.9 million in a series seed funding round to consolidate its position as the leading electronics marketplace in the country.The round was led by US-based JAM Fund. Additional investors include Beenext, an early investor in Indonesian decacorn eCommerce platform Tokopedia, DG Daiwa, Mantis VC, HOF Capital, Jet.com’s investor Palm Drive Capital, and Atlas Ventures among others. Additionally, notable unicorn founders Peter Thiel, Immad Akhud of Mercury Bank, and Asif Keshodia of Souq also participated in the round, as well as previous investors Fatima Gobi Ventures, SOSV, and Artistic Ventures. This is Peter Thiel’s first investment into Pakistan.
PriceOye is a managed marketplace for electronics, with recommendations based on the consumer’s requirements, helping them make informed purchasing decisions. The product recommendation engine is used by visitors for product research and has been one of the important drivers of bringing over 2 million monthly users to the PriceOye.pk’s platform. PriceOye has developed a proprietary product recommendation engine that asks simple questions for each category and recommends products based on the responses. For example, if you are purchasing a smartphone, it will ask a few simple questions like what’s your price range, which phone are you using right now, and what features are important for you. Based on the answers, the product that best fits your criteria is recommended by PriceOye, thus improving the way people shop for electronics.
PriceOye.pk has grown exponentially, posting 500% revenue growth year-on-year, making it one of the leading B2C eCommerce players in the country. With the new funding, PriceOye is poised to continue on its growth trajectory, adding new products and categories on the platform, and expanding its network of partners.
“Some of the biggest problems with shopping for consumer electronics in Pakistan is the presence of counterfeit products and price discrepancies which result in a fractured buying experience for a majority of Pakistani shoppers. PriceOye’s managed marketplace not only gives access to authentic products at great prices but also helps consumers make better shopping decisions through its recommendations system,” said Adnan Shaffi, co-founder and CEO of PriceOye. “PriceOye was hence designed to bring transparency and convenience to the shopping experience and has the highest net promoter score, which measures customer experience and loyalty. As we plan for the next phase of our growth, we are excited to partner with new investors who have placed their trust in us,” he added.
Mantis VC founder and partner Alex Pall added, “Within a short period of time, PriceOye has grown exponentially and has cemented its position as the leading national company in online consumer electronics. We are excited to join PriceOye in its mission towards changing the way people shop in Pakistan.”
Commenting on the investment, Seamon Chan, managing partner of Palm Drive Capital, which has backed eCommerce unicorn Jet.com, stated, “It’s always a difficult choice for consumers to spend big amounts of money on high-value products while being unsure about their authenticity. I was inspired by the vision of PriceOye founders Adnan and Adeel of creating transparency and bringing convenience to customers when it comes to shopping for consumer electronics.”
“PriceOye has become the leading B2C eCommerce platform and the growth is a testament to the founders’ ability to execute. We are excited to back them as they steer PriceOye towards a new phase of growth,” Chan concludes.
There is currently no national chain like BestBuy in the US or Croma in India, which are specialized electronics stores. About 50% of the consumer electronics are sold online in the US, whereas in the Pakistani market, which is mostly offline, the shopping experience for customers is completely fragmented.
Pakistan’s consumer electronics market had an estimated spend of $8.5 billion in 2020 and has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 7.1% between 2016 and 2020. The growth of the consumer electronics market has resulted in the influx of subpar counterfeit products. Founded by Adnan Shaffi and Adeel Shaffi, PriceOye is a managed marketplace, similar to JD.com in China, where consumers can discover and buy authentic consumer electronic products, which are then delivered to customers.
About PriceOye.pk
PriceOye.pk, is a marketplace for authentic and original consumer electronics at the best price. We remove counterfeits, create trust and help our customers make better purchase decisions by providing comprehensive product information and product reviews.