Pakistani online grocery startup MandiExpress raises $725k

MandiExpress, a Pakistani online fresh produce and grocery delivery startup, has raised US$725,000 in a pre-series A funding round led by institutional VC fund Lakson Investments Venture Capital. Private investor Disrupt,which has been backing the startup since its seed stage, also provided follow-on funding.

Photo credit: MandiExpress

MandiExpress takes a data-driven approach to fulfillment of B2B and B2C fresh produce orders. Its tech platform autonomously gathers price data for its buyers located at daily auctions, locally known as sabzi mandis. This allows the company to buy high-grade produce at lower prices and pass the savings to its customers.

It has warehouses at sabzi mandis, where it purchases, sorts, grades, and custom-packages vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood, as well as organic and gourmet foods. These products are then delivered to the startup’s online customers.

“I started this venture five years ago to create a platform with a vision to help local farmers, having learned about the problems they faced. The task seemed almost impossible at the time, but today we are deeply integrated with the supply chain at multiple wholesale markets across Pakistan, gradually digitizing the entire value chain,” said founder and CEO Jehanzeb Chaudhri.

With the new funds, MandiExpress plans to scale its successful model with sabzi mandis across the country and meet rising demand brought by its partnerships with various ecommerce firms, the chief exec said.

According to the statement, Pakistan’s fresh produce market currently stands at over US$50 billion, accounting for 20% of the country’s GDP. Local farmers fail to take advantage of the opportunity, as the country has some of the lowest yields per acre globally and due to the extraction of value by the multiple stakeholders in the value chain.

MandiExpress said it positioned its platform as a way to help farmers find fairer prices, provide them with direct access to the market, and facilitate their financial inclusion in the fresh produce supply chain.