B2B payments in Pakistan quietly crossed a major milestone when Haball, a Karachi-based supply chain fintech, announced it had processed over $3 billion and closed a $52 million pre-Series A funding round. While consumer wallets and digital banking get most of the headlines in Pakistan’s fintech scene, Haball has spent eight years building the less glamorous but far more critical plumbing of business-to-business finance.
What Haball Actually Does
Most people have heard of JazzCash or Easypaisa. Far fewer know Haball, which is exactly how the company has operated: quietly, and very effectively. Founded in 2017 by Omer bin Ahsan, the platform targets the messy middle of Pakistan’s economy, the supplier relationships, invoices, and payments that tie together manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.
In plain terms, Haball lets businesses send and receive payments digitally, issue compliant invoices, and access working capital when cash runs short between orders. Every part of that process is Shariah-compliant, which matters enormously for Pakistani businesses that cannot or will not use conventional interest-based credit.
The platform currently serves nearly 8,000 SMEs across Pakistan, along with multinationals. Clients include companies like Coca-Cola, which tells you this is not a niche player anymore.
Breaking Down the $52 Million Round
The pre-Series A funding is a hybrid deal, and understanding its structure explains why it is significant. The round has two parts.
- Equity component ($5 million), led by Zayn VC, Pakistan’s early-stage venture capital firm, with participation from Majlis Advisory SPV, Saudi private investors, angel investors, and a business conglomerate.
- Strategic financing ($47 million), provided by Meezan Bank, Pakistan’s largest Islamic bank, which has actually been partnering with Haball since 2018.
That bank-fintech partnership is the real story here. For years, traditional Pakistani banks and fintech startups were seen as rivals competing for the same customer. This deal points to a different future, one where an established lender uses a digital platform to reach thousands of SMEs it could never serve through a branch network alone.
Meezan Bank is rated AAA/A-1+, and its backing gives Haball a credibility signal that pure venture-backed startups rarely enjoy at this stage.
B2B Payments Pakistan and the SME Credit Gap
The numbers behind Pakistan’s supply chain finance market explain why investors are paying attention. Supply chain finance in Pakistan is still early-stage, but the addressable market is estimated at over $9 billion, driven by a severe lack of credit access for SMEs. Fewer than 5% of Pakistani small businesses can get financing from a commercial bank. That gap is enormous, and it is exactly the gap Haball is designed to fill.
Haball has already disbursed over $110 million in financing to businesses on its platform, on top of the $3 billion in B2B payments it has processed. Those are not projections. They are real transactions that have already flowed through the system.
What makes Haball’s position even stronger is its regulatory standing. It became the first fintech in Pakistan to receive a Federal Board of Revenue licence for digital invoicing, meaning its invoices are accepted for tax purposes. The State Bank of Pakistan has also selected it as a multi-bank supply chain financing platform, and the company is working toward becoming a regulated payment initiation service provider with access to Raast, Pakistan’s instant payment rail.
These licences and regulatory recognitions are not headline-grabbers, but they are moats. A competitor cannot replicate them overnight.
Forbes Asia Noticed Before Most Pakistanis Did
In August 2025, Forbes Asia named Haball to its annual 100 To Watch list, which highlights promising startups and small companies across the Asia-Pacific region. Pakistan’s other representative on that list was PostEx, the logistics-fintech company. Both are backed by Zayn VC. The recognition matters because Forbes Asia selects only two Pakistani companies among entries from 16 countries and territories, with India, Singapore, and Japan dominating the list.
For many in Pakistan’s tech community, this was a reminder that Haball had been building serious infrastructure while the conversation stayed focused on consumer apps and digital wallets. If you are following Pakistan’s startup ecosystem rankings, Haball is exactly the kind of company that moves those numbers in the right direction.
What Comes Next: Gulf Expansion
The new capital is not all staying in Pakistan. Haball has confirmed plans to enter Saudi Arabia in 2025 and open a regional office there. The company is also exploring market entries in the UAE and Qatar, and is looking at other parts of Asia.
The Gulf makes strategic sense. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have large SME sectors with strong demand for Shariah-compliant financing. Haball’s existing expertise in Islamic supply chain finance is a natural fit, and the participation of Saudi private investors in this round suggests those conversations are already well advanced.
For Pakistan’s broader digital economy story, an export of this kind, not software services or freelancing, but a fintech platform expanding into the Middle East, represents something genuinely new. It is also a reminder that the country’s fintech opportunity is not limited to giving individuals mobile wallets. The bigger, harder, and potentially more valuable problem is connecting and financing the businesses that make up Pakistan’s economy.
Readers interested in how Pakistan’s digital finance layer is developing can also follow the race among Pakistan’s digital banks, which is a related but separate part of the same transformation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Haball and what does it do?
Haball is a Karachi-based B2B fintech platform founded in 2017. It provides Shariah-compliant supply chain financing, digital invoicing, tax compliance tools, and payment collection for Pakistani SMEs and multinationals. It has processed over $3 billion in payments and disbursed more than $110 million in financing.
How is Haball’s $52 million pre-Series A structured?
The round has two parts: $5 million in equity led by Zayn VC (with Saudi private investors and others), and $47 million in strategic Islamic financing provided by Meezan Bank. The combination of venture equity and bank financing makes it a hybrid deal unusual in Pakistan’s startup market.
Why does Haball’s FBR licence matter?
Haball is the first fintech in Pakistan to hold a Federal Board of Revenue licence for digital invoicing. This means businesses using its platform can issue invoices that are legally recognised for tax purposes. That is a significant practical advantage and a barrier that protects Haball’s position in the market.
What is Haball’s plan for the Gulf region?
Haball plans to enter Saudi Arabia in 2025 and open a regional office there. It is also exploring entries into the UAE and Qatar. The company’s Shariah-compliant model and experience financing SMEs in Pakistan are designed to transfer directly to GCC markets where similar demand exists.
