Pakistan’s population of 220 million people live predominantly in rural areas and rely on small, mom-and-pop shops, known as kirana stores, for their daily needs. However, the kirana sector faces a number of challenges, including broken supply chains, lack of data, and lack of access to financing.kamagra pas cher

Worsening droughts, floods, and heatwaves will steadily reduce the country’s crop yields and food supply. Kiranas will find it harder to source food and keep prices stable. Meanwhile Pakistani farmers, many of whom struggle to survive, will not transform into indoor hydroponic operations anytime soon.

Enter Pakistani startup 24Seven. The company addresses the challenges posed by climate change by providing kiranas with access to a robust supply chain that can source food more broadly than just the local farmers, while also helping kiranas manage their businesses better. The company was founded in 2020 by Jarrar Shah, who saw the need for a more efficient and sustainable way to deliver groceries to Pakistan’s rural communities.

Using 24Seven’s data to track inventory and anticipate demand, kiranas see better margins while reducing food waste. 24Seven also collects financial data for kiranas to give them a credit score, letting them get help from banks to manage their working capital.

My fund Betatron is helping 24Seven set up a data team in Hong Kong to predict the impact of extreme weather on near-term crop yields so they can anticipate where exactly they’ll see shortages of onions, tomatoes and potatoes.

Pragmatic systems like 24Seven’s can go a long way in addressing the challenge of food security. A testament to 24Seven’s viability is their 10x growth over the past year alone. They recently crossed US$100 million in top line revenue.