Karachi-headquartered ecommerce startup Bazaar has acquired leading Pakistani payments company Keenu in a strategic move to create what it says would be the country’s first integrated commerce and fintech ecosystem. The acquisition, approved by the State Bank of Pakistan, marks the first time a major Pakistani ecommerce company has brought payments infrastructure in-house. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2020 by Saad Jangda and Hamza Jawaid, Bazaar is now one of Pakistan’s largest ecommerce platforms, with operations in 10+ cities and its own supply chain infrastructure. It started as a B2B platform for grocery store owners and quietly expanded into consumer groceries last year, a service currently available in Karachi.
The company has raised over $100 million in institutional funding from prominent investors including Dragoneer Investment Group, Tiger Global, and Indus Valley Capital, positioning it as one of Pakistan’s most well-capitalized tech startups. According to Bloomberg, Bazaar expects to hit profitability in the next few quarters.
Keenu, launched in 2013, operates as a fully licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) regulated by the State Bank of Pakistan. The fintech company processes over $1 billion in annual payments volume through its point-of-sale terminals, maintaining a merchant presence across more than 150 cities and towns nationwide.
In a statement, Bazaar noted that the acquisition follows a proven global playbook, mirroring successful integrations by companies like Alibaba’s Alipay in China, Mercado Libre’s Mercado Pago in South America, and Flipkart’s acquisition of PhonePe in India.
“This is more than an acquisition — it’s a strategic alignment that redefines what it means to serve households and businesses in Pakistan,” said Saad Jangda, co-founder of Bazaar Technologies. “We’ve built Bazaar to be the most trusted commerce partner in the country. Now, with Keenu’s payment infrastructure becoming part of our stack, we’re creating the country’s first truly integrated commerce-fintech platform.”
Saad Niazi, co-founder and CEO of Keenu, emphasized the complementary nature of the partnership: “We’ve spent the last decade digitising payments infrastructure across Pakistan. By joining forces with Bazaar, we’re not only expanding our reach — we’re accelerating the movement toward a cashless, digital and connected Pakistan.”
Both companies will continue operating independently while aligning strategically, preserving their individual strengths. The move aligns with the State Bank of Pakistan’s National Payment Strategy to “open the retail payments market to non-banks” and its Vision 2028 to “enable and promote innovative product design by leveraging technology to build an inclusive financial ecosystem.”
Beyond its core ecommerce platform spanning 30+ product categories with next-day delivery, Bazaar also operates Easy Khata, a digital ledger app helping customers manage daily bookkeeping. Keenu’s services include point-of-sale solutions, online payment gateways, and mobile wallet applications.
