Pakistani grocery delivery service GrocerApp obtains $1 million in seed funding, chiefly from Dubai's Jabbar.

GrocerApp, a leading player in Pakistan's online grocery space, has recently raised $1 million in a seed funding round, marking the Jabbar Internet Group's first investment in Pakistan.

Founded in 2016 by Ahmed Saeed, Hassaan Sadiq, and Bilal Zafar, GrocerApp operates on a pure-play model, managing its own inventory and logistics. The seed round saw participation from several notable investors, including Samih Toukan and Hussam Khoury, co-founders of the Jabbar Internet Group, former Souq/Amazon MENA executive Asif Keshodia, Saudi-based Nama Ventures, Jordan's Nader Group, Pakistan-focused VC Karavan, and a local software company 7Vals.

Samih Toukan, a co-founder of Jabbar Internet Group, expressed his confidence in Pakistan's technology market and his determination to see GrocerApp grow further. Toukan is well-known for his previous successes, having co-founded Souq, a leading ecommerce company in the Middle East, which was acquired by Amazon in 2017 for $580 million. Hussam Khoury, another co-founder of Jabbar Internet Group, previously co-founded Maktoob, an Arabic portal and email service that was acquired by Yahoo for $164 million.

GrocerApp's CEO is not concerned about the recent entry of Airlift, a Pakistani mass transit startup, into the grocery delivery market. With the market being too big to be served by a single player, the CEO is optimistic about GrocerApp's growth prospects.

The latest investment will be used to make GrocerApp's supply chain more efficient, automate processes, and expand to Islamabad and Rawalpindi, with potential plans to expand to Karachi next year. GrocerApp enables users to order groceries through its web and mobile apps and have them delivered to their doorstep on the same day. The service includes delivery of fruits, vegetables, and meat.

Besides Jabbar Internet Group, investors in GrocerApp's funding round included Endure Capital and several angel investors. Some existing investors, including Pakistan-based Walled City Co, LeanBricks, and Shehryar Ali of Treet Pakistan, also joined the round. Zubair Naeem Paracha, the founder of a local tech company, is a tech and startup enthusiast who is also building Qraar, a career discovery and development platform for millennials in MENA.

Covid-19 has helped GrocerApp grow multiple-fold in the last few months, and it is still growing between 20 to 30 percent month-over-month. With the ongoing support from investors and a commitment to continuous improvement, GrocerApp is poised to make a significant impact in Pakistan's online grocery market.