Demand for South Asian fashion is increasing globally as more South Asians migrate and settle in new markets and purchase ethnic costumes for events such as local festivals and weddings.
However, today there are not many online platforms that sell an extensive catalog of apparel and footwear from local South Indian sellers to the global market. These often have limited design options and are usually focused on a specific age group or gender.
Arif Iqbal is trying to solve this problem with a Lahore-based online marketplace called Laam. Laam just raised $5.5 million in a new all-equity seed round led by Disrupt.com and Zayn VC.
Iqbal worked in the US for over a decade at various technology companies including Meta, Pinterest, Microsoft, and eBay. While living in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area, Iqbal remained connected to the Pakistani and Indian communities. He said that in every place he lived, there were places where he could eat South Asian food or play cricket, a sport that Indians and Pakistanis love to play and talk about. I realized that ethnic fashion was not always accessible. At home, while technology is well ahead of its time, fashion is not primarily technology-driven and sellers are finding themselves relying on traditional methods to understand demand and meet supply. Ta.
Iqbal returned to Pakistan after the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit the world. This move turned out to be a blessing in disguise, making it easier for South Asians overseas to purchase fashion. He founded Rahm in January 2021, enlisting his former Microsoft colleague Ahmed Muneeb to develop products for consumers and merchants, and his brother, who previously worked with local apparel sellers and brands. Amir Iqbal was asked to build the supply chain. Fashion enthusiast Sahar Arif joins us as our fourth co-founder.
“When we started, there were not many sellers doing online business in Pakistan.But now, the majority of our sales come from our online presence.In this process, we I’ve seen it grow from a team of ~3 people to a team of 200-300 people,” Iqbal said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch.
Arif iqbal, Co-founder and CEO, Laam Image credit: Laam
Currently, Ram offers a carefully selected catalog of over 100,000 items including casual, ethnic and formal wear, footwear and accessories for men, women and children from nearly 1,200 sellers based in Pakistan. The startup has sales in more than 100 countries, with the US, Canada, the UK, and the Middle East as its top five markets. Although Pakistan still has the largest number of buyers (more than 300,000 out of a total of 500,000 startups), it is nowhere near Ram's top global market in terms of revenue.
The startup combines data and machine learning to provide personalization to consumers. Machine learning algorithms were deployed to extract information such as product descriptions, available quantities, fabrics, and sizes. The startup also offers search capabilities using chatbots and structured data to facilitate discovery.
Laam provides sellers with the logistics, supply chain infrastructure, and warehousing, along with its technology, to determine the type of inventory required, an estimate of the inventory needed, and which products are eligible for “Express” shipping. will help you understand.
Iqbal told TechCrunch that sellers can use the company's app to connect to online marketplaces without human intervention. The startup uses physical and AI photography of ready-to-sell products, barcodes to prepare products for shipment, and the ability to order vehicles to transport goods from its own warehouses and factories to Rahm's warehouse. We provide services such as buttons on the app. .
Image credit: Rahm
The startup also offers customization of high-end formal wear. In that case, instruct your customers to upload their requirements and send the data directly to the seller. The startup also has an additional verification process to ensure the product meets specifications given by the customer before shipping.
Alongside its consumer-facing marketplace, Laam provides infrastructure to sellers as a platform called Octane to help local businesses establish an online presence and expand globally. . Currently, the platform serves more than 50 businesses, which also sell their products through Laam's online marketplace.
In Pakistan, Laam has some competition as SanaullaStore, Bagallery, Clicky and others are emerging local online marketplaces and platforms. Retail brands such as ETHNC and Sapphire sell their products through online sites. Similarly, some D2C players have started using Spotify to establish an online presence in the country, with Temu entering Pakistan in September and Alibaba-owned Daraz also joining the fray.
Nevertheless, Mr. Iqbal maintained that Ram has a unique proposition of selling various products of different brands in Pakistan and around the world.
Laam's $5.5 million seed round also included participation from Graph Ventures, Mentors Fund, and technology executives from Oracle, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and more. The funding is aimed at expanding Ram's reach and acquiring sellers from other South Asian regions beyond Pakistan. The startup also plans to establish a presence in key markets outside Pakistan. Iqbal said Rahm is setting up an office in the UAE to begin its expansion and is looking to establish a presence in the United States after that.
Rahm's funding comes amid a continued slowdown in Pakistan's overall startup ecosystem. According to Tracxn data shared with TechCrunch, funding for startups in Pakistan decreased by 65% year-on-year from $35 million in 2023 to $12.3 million in early 2024. The number of funding rounds in the country also decreased from 16 to 7.