SadaPay
SadaPay is a Pakistani mobile wallet and debit card provider founded in 2019 and acquired by Turkish fintech Papara in May 2024.
Industry: Digital banking and payments | Location: Islamabad, Pakistan | Founded: 2019 | Total Funding: USD 17.9M
About SadaPay
SadaPay is a Pakistani fintech that offers a digital wallet and debit card as a mobile-first bank alternative. Reports place the company in Islamabad. It was started in 2019 by Brandon Timinsky, who had earlier sold a start-up in the United States, with the aim of building a neobank for Pakistan. In its early period SadaPay operated under the State Bank of Pakistan's pilot framework, which capped it at 1,000 customers. It later moved towards a full electronic money institution (EMI) licence, which the central bank approved in principle. The company raised its first major round in March 2021: a USD 7.2 million seed round led by New York-based Recharge Capital, with returning investor Kingsway Capital, Raptor Group and fintech angels taking part. Pakistani and regional press described it as the largest seed round closed by a Pakistani start-up at the time, and one report put total funding at USD 9.3 million after the round. SadaPay then announced an additional seed extension of USD 10.7 million, alongside its EMI licence approval, with Recharge Capital, Kingsway Capital and Raptor Group adding to their holdings. The company said at the time that it expected to raise a Series A later, and total funding was reported at around USD 20 million. Raptor Group's roundup quoted Timinsky as saying this made SadaPay the highest-funded fintech in Pakistan. The most significant event in the company's history came in 2024, when Turkish fintech Papara agreed to acquire SadaPay in an all-stock transaction. Earlier reports put the deal at roughly USD 30 million, while a later report said the deal closed on 30 May 2024 and valued SadaPay at USD 50.5 million, including a USD 10 million equity injection. Reports at the time said SadaPay would keep its team, structure and operational autonomy. Timinsky resigned as chief executive shortly after the deal and handed leadership to Salimullah, according to Profit. SadaPay's story is often cited in coverage of the broader wave of Pakistani fintech funding in 2021, when several start-ups in the country raised their first institutional rounds. No later funding rounds beyond the seed extension have been publicly reported.
Leadership
- Omer Salimullah, Acting Chief Executive Officer
- Jon Sheppard, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Director