VEON Ventures reignites Pakistan's startup economy by investing us$15 million in Dastgyr.

VEON Ltd (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides mobile connectivity and services, announces that the Group's VEON Ventures division has completed a US$ 15 million Series A investment in Dastgyr, a Pakistan-based B2B e-commerce marketplace platform.

The deal is VEON Ventures' largest investment in a Pakistani start-up and reflects the Group's continued commitment to the region and growth of the digital economy of Pakistan. The investment positions Dastgyr to take advantage of VEON's global expertise and its operating company, Jazz's distribution network and digital payment solutions via JazzCash.

"Pakistan's start-up ecosystem is at a critical juncture and only startups focused on addressing key challenges and adopting localized solutions will survive and thrive," added Aamir Ibrahim, CEO of Jazz. "This investment highlights VEON's commitment to scaling up Pakistan's digital economy and provides Dastgyr with a platform to build synergies with Jazz's subscriber base of around 75 million and with JazzCash, further integrating the startup into Pakistan's fintech ecosystem."

"As part of VEON's transformation into a digital operator that delivers a growing range of services to our customers we are investing in leading digital companies like Dastgyr in the countries where we operate. These investments are the building blocks of the digital ecosystem that will enable us to deliver on our strategy," said Mohd Khairil Abdullah, CEO of VEON Ventures.

Pakistan, with its rapidly growing digital sector, is a key market for VEON. By bringing together Dastgyr's e-commerce business with Jazz's communications network and JazzCash's mobile payments platform, we will catalyse the growth in digital services in Pakistan. This would be further enhanced by the digital banking services that we have ambitions to provide.

Dastgyr...