Karachi March 10 2022: Karachi-based YPay Financial Services PVT. LTD., an Investec company that enables first-time investors to start investing in mutual funds is now licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan as the Securities Adviser. Through this license, they’ll be able to onboard and facilitate digital investments across the mutual funds industry in Pakistan.
YPay has also recently raised a six-figure (USD) pre-seed investment at the end of 2021 through US-based accelerator fund ODX (On Deck). According to the details shared with Augaf, the $2 million valuation deal took place entirely remotely and within two weeks. The team was also interviewed and shortlisted by California-based Y-Combinator around the same time.
Founded in August 2020, YPay is co-led by Sarfraz Shahid Hussain and Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai. It is currently ramping up operations to scale across Pakistan and is aggressively expanding its team of technologists, brand strategists, and marketers to build its dream team.
The company is now in the process of going commercial as it has successfully graduated from the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan’s (SECP) 1st Regulatory Sandbox cohort.
It has partnered with more than ten financial institutions while running its pilot in 2021 and is ready to go national in the coming week.
YPay is one of the many Startups that was mentored by the former President of P@SHA and founder of Nest I/O and Katalyst Labs, Jehan Ara.
Co-founders Sarfraz Shahid Hussain and Muhammad Furqan Karim Kidwai told Augaf that “there is a big gap in financial literacy around investment avenues especially for first-time investors, and a lack of ease of use is present in investment apps of Pakistan, which adds a barrier to entry for them. We at YPay understand these barriers for the first-time investor and we aspire to eliminate the barriers to maximize adoption of investment apps like YPay Financial”.
Currently operating under the National Incubation Center, Karachi, YPay operates under the leadership of Project Director Omar Abedin. With over 25 years of experience, Abedin has worked with the likes of Philips, Reckitt Benckiser, Johnson & Johnson, Careem, Graana, and many others. Omar continues to value innovation, insight-based decision-making, team development and drive towards developing powerful brands.
YPay is an app that enables commonfolk to invest digitally in mutual funds. It aims at creating a digital future for Pakistan, and facilitating the population in the smart investment of their money, and helping them track their current financial statistics.
The main aim of YPay is to create financial literacy among people, bridge the gap between the Pakistani youth and the capital market, promote a culture of savings, and provide a means to invest in mutual funds via the application.
YPay provides an easy means of investing in solutions with zero paperwork, free financial advice, and investment returns at any time.
