After Getting $4.5 Million In Funding, The Trading App KTrade Raised An Additional $4.5 Million In A Seed Round From Global Investors.

KTrade, the leading Pakistani fintech stock trading app, said today that it has secured $4.5 million in a fundraising round headed by TTB Partners, from a mix of global investors and institutions, with additional contributions from HOF Capital, a New York-based investment firm. Several notable German fintech investors, together with Berenberg Bank Managing Partner Christian Angermayer and Pakistani business families, took part in the round. KTrade is the Pakistan-based stock brokerage's new fintech retail trading app.

Similar to its worldwide contemporaries, such as XP in Brazil, Zerodha in India, Tiger in China, Flatex in Germany, and Robinhood in the US, KTrade gives convenient access to financial markets for ordinary investors. According to data from the launch year of 2019, the number of users of KTrade has surpassed 200,000, and the firm plans to enroll 10 million Pakistani customers as well as those outsides by 2023, all in order to trade stocks, bonds, commodities, and mutual funds using the KTrade mobile platform.

Despite periods of typical market cycles, the Karachi Stock Exchange Index (KSE100) has surged by 19% per year over the previous two decades. Regulatory improvements and an increase in retail investor engagement have caused the volumes to expand by 7 times over the previous 18 months. Roughly 65% of trade volume now comes from retail investors, compared to 45% 24 months earlier. KTrade targets customers who want a simple method of accessing this investing opportunity

KTrade was built by Ali Farid, the inventor of KTrade. Before, he was the CFO of a UK-listed fintech business called SafeCharge (which was purchased by Nuvei) and was also a Partner at Autonomous Research (which was purchased by Alliance Bernstein). Ali is a Rhodes Scholar and has been an international technology analyst rated in the top 10 for the last two years.

Co-founder Ali Farid of KTrade had this to say.

This is one of the reasons why in Pakistan people have historically gone for gold or real property as an investment choice. While more individuals are gaining acquainted with stock market investment, the Karachi Stock Exchange has a better reputation as a regulatory, authority, and credible resource for investors. This is a very exciting trend, yet millions of people are still blocked from accessing these marketplaces. This mobile-first population will be able to engage in the investment opportunity as a result of KTrade.

We can use these people as bridges to get wealth stranded in assets with no potential to produce economic growth to be deposited in the formal economy, which will in turn create a virtuous cycle of increased investment and economic growth.

There has been a big uptick in interest in Pakistan since it's next in line to follow the success of Indonesia. Growth in the middle class and rising smartphone ownership have produced a highly advantageous situation for new technology-led innovation. To assist retail savers to achieve financial well-being, it is KASB's goal to assist them to discover their financial needs, offer them educational materials, and assist them to build good financial habits.

Finance in Pakistan is not available to the majority of people because of poor accessibility to formal financial products. People's investments in real estate and gold, however, provide lower returns, are inefficient, and incur significant procedural costs. We are aiming to democratize access to the capital markets and allow investors to purchase shares in companies on the stock market. It demonstrates that the market is ready for this shift, as seen by the tremendous demand for KTrade. In other regions and developing countries, the emergence of successful fintech startups has lead to similar market dynamics.