Iman Urooj

chief operating officer of Safepay

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Iman Urooj is the chief operating officer of Safepay, a Pakistani fintech. She was born in Karachi and studied history and economics at NYU. She stepped away from her family's food trading business to take the role at Safepay.

Early life and background

Urooj was born in Karachi. She grew up in the city and went to school there. [1]

Education

Urooj went abroad for university and studied at NYU. She studied history and economics, and she graduated in 2009. [1]

Career

Urooj spent two years in Abu Dhabi. She then traveled for a couple of months before returning to Pakistan. After her return she started working with her father in a food trading business. [1]

Urooj describes the family business as a father-daughter business, and says it is where she learned how to sell. According to her, it represented companies from South America and Europe and sold their products in the Middle East. It was based in Karachi and Dubai. She has said that she really enjoys selling. [1]

Urooj attended a boot camp on entrepreneurship held by MIT, which she says changed her perspective. She continues to coach and mentor for MIT on the side. [1]

Safepay

Two of Urooj's friends, one of them a family friend, started Safepay. She was told to help her friends out for the summer. She began helping Safepay and realized she loved the work. [1]

Urooj took on getting the merchants for Safepay. She later stepped away from her family business and became the company's chief operating officer. [1]

Safepay started around 2020. Urooj has said that it is the first fintech from Pakistan to go through Y Combinator, and that it is backed by Stripe. She has also said that it holds a pilot license with the State Bank, and that it is in the pilot stage and working with the State Bank toward the last stage. In her description, the company is in a scaling period. [1]

According to Urooj, Safepay works with multiple brands and small businesses in Pakistan. She has said that many of its businesses accept payments from around the world, and that many of its payments skew international. She has also said that Safepay works with women entrepreneurs. For now it is focusing more on online payments. [1]

Urooj has said that Safepay accepts debit and credit card payments and is working to accept wallet payments. Its focus is mostly on e-commerce at the moment. She has said that, after it gets a commercial license, it plans to open up and onboard all kinds of businesses. She has also said that it checks businesses through a know-your-customer process, and that it has built tools so businesses can accept payments simply. [1]

Urooj has said that Safepay's goal is to onboard thousands of Pakistani businesses. She has also said that the company wants Pakistanis to join the global economy. [1]

Visa Everywhere Initiative

Urooj has said that Safepay took part in Visa's Everywhere Initiative about two years ago, by her account. She represented Safepay and received a lot of mentoring from Visa. According to her, Safepay was the only Pakistani fintech in that competition. She has said that it won the audience award, fan favorite, and that the team had about two weeks to prepare. [1]

Views

Urooj has said that the best thing men can do is be champions for the women in their lives. She has said that women should be allowed to live lives of meaning. She says she meets women entrepreneurs all the time and finds the work they are doing incredible. [1]

Urooj has described the internet as a great equalizer. She has also said that the Pakistani diaspora is buying from Pakistani businesses. [1]

Urooj has said that she always thinks the only constant is change. In her view, a young population should work together. She has also said that times are tough but that, hopefully, people will be out of it. [1]

Personal life

Urooj has said that the greatest gift her father gave her was the idea that he did not want her to depend on anybody. [1]

Timeline

2009
Graduated from NYU.[1]
2020
Safepay started, around this year.[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2023-11-17 The $10,000 grant and why women are Pakistan's missing half Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Iman Urooj?

Iman Urooj is the chief operating officer of Safepay, a Pakistani fintech. She was born in Karachi and studied history and economics at NYU. She worked in her family's food trading business before moving to Safepay.[1]

What does Iman Urooj do?

Iman Urooj is the chief operating officer of Safepay. At Safepay she took on getting the merchants for the company. She also coaches and mentors for MIT on the side.[1]

Where did Iman Urooj study?

Iman Urooj went abroad for university and studied at NYU. She studied history and economics and graduated in 2009. She also attended a boot camp on entrepreneurship held by MIT.[1]

Where is Iman Urooj from?

Iman Urooj was born in Karachi. She grew up in Karachi and went to school there.[1]

What company is Iman Urooj the chief operating officer of?

Iman Urooj is the chief operating officer of Safepay. Two of her friends, one of them a family friend, started Safepay. She began helping the company, realized she loved the work, and stepped away from her family business to take the role.[1]

What did Iman Urooj do before Safepay?

Iman Urooj spent two years in Abu Dhabi and then returned to Pakistan after traveling for a couple of months. She started working with her father in a food trading business. She has said that the business represented companies from South America and Europe and sold their products in the Middle East.[1]

What is Safepay?

Safepay is a Pakistani fintech where Iman Urooj is chief operating officer. It started around 2020 and accepts debit and credit card payments. She has said that it is the first fintech from Pakistan to go through Y Combinator and that it is backed by Stripe.[1]

Did Safepay take part in the Visa Everywhere Initiative?

Iman Urooj has said that Safepay took part in Visa's Everywhere Initiative. She represented Safepay and received a lot of mentoring from Visa. According to her, Safepay won the audience award, fan favorite, in that competition.[1]

References

  1. The $10,000 grant and why women are Pakistan's missing half . Thought Behind Things , 2023-11-17.
Show the source passages (51 statements)
  1. Iman Urooj is the Chief Operating Officer of Safepay. Iman Urooj is the Chief Operating Officer at Safepay.
  2. Iman was born in Karachi, where she grew up and went to school. So I was born in Karachi, grew up in Karachi, went to school here.
  3. Iman went abroad for university and studied at NYU. I went and studied abroad for university. NYU.
  4. Iman studied history and economics. And I studied history and economics.
  5. Iman graduated from NYU in 2009. 2009 I graduated from NYU.
  6. Iman spent two years in Abu Dhabi. I spent two years in Abu Dhabi.
  7. After Abu Dhabi, Iman traveled for a couple of months and then returned to Pakistan. I traveled for a couple of months, then I came back to Pakistan
  8. After returning to Pakistan, Iman started working with her father in a food trading business. started working with my father in a food trading business
  9. The family food trading business was a father-daughter business where Iman learned to sell. we were a father-daughter business and that's where I really learned how to sell
  10. Iman said the food trading business represented companies from South America and Europe and sold their products in the Middle East. we represented companies from South America, Europe and we would sell their products in the Middle East market
  11. Iman said the food trading business was based in Karachi and Dubai. While based out of Karachi and Dubai both.
  12. Iman said she really enjoys selling. I really enjoy selling.
  13. Iman attended an MIT entrepreneurship boot camp, which she said changed her perspective. I went to this boot camp held by MIT on entrepreneurship and that really changed my perspective.
  14. Iman coaches and mentors for MIT on the side. I still coach and mentor for MIT on the side.
  15. Two of Iman's friends, one of them a family friend, started Safepay. two of my friends were one of my family friends and another friend of mine were started SafePay
  16. Iman said she was told to help her friends out for the summer. he said you should help your friends out for the summer
  17. Iman started helping Safepay and found that she loved the work. I said all right, so I started helping them out a bit and then I realized I loved it.
  18. Iman said she started taking on getting the merchants for Safepay. I started taking on, you know, getting all the merchants for Safepay
  19. Iman stepped away from her family business to become Safepay's COO. I stepped away from my family business and now I'm the COO of Safepay.
  20. Iman said her father wanted her to be independent and never depend on anyone. the greatest gift my father gave me was the idea that he didn't want me to depend on anybody
  21. Iman said men can best help by championing the women in their lives. I think the best thing men can do is uh be champions for the women in their life
  22. Iman said women should be allowed to live lives of meaning. women should be allowed to live lives of meaning
  23. Iman said the internet is a great equalizer. The internet is a great equalizer.
  24. Iman said she meets women entrepreneurs all the time and finds their work incredible. I come across, uh, women entrepreneurs all the time and the work they're doing is incredible.
  25. Iman said Safepay works with women entrepreneurs. there are women entrepreneurs that who we work with
  26. Iman said the Pakistani diaspora is buying from Pakistani businesses. the Pakistani diaspora is actually buying from Pakistan
  27. Safepay started around 2020. we started around 2020
  28. Iman said Safepay is the first Pakistani fintech to go through Y Combinator, and that Stripe backs it. we're the first fintech from Pakistan to uh get through go through Y Combinator, backed by Stripe
  29. Iman said Safepay holds a pilot license with the State Bank. we are in the pilot have a pilot license with State Bank
  30. Iman said Safepay is in the pilot stage and is working with the State Bank toward the last stage. So we are in the pilot stage and we're working toward with State Bank to hit the last stage.
  31. Iman said Safepay is in a scaling period. So we're in our scaling period right now.
  32. Iman said Safepay works with multiple brands and small businesses in Pakistan. We're working with multiple brands in Pakistan. We're also working with small businesses.
  33. Iman said many Safepay merchants accept payments from around the world. a lot of our businesses uh are accepting payments from around the world
  34. Iman said many Safepay payments are international. a lot of our payments skew a lot more international
  35. Iman said Safepay accepts debit and credit card payments. So we accept card payments, uh debit and credit
  36. Iman said Safepay is working to accept wallet payments. we're working to accept wallet wallet payments as well
  37. Iman said Safepay plans to open to all kinds of businesses after it gets a commercial license. inshallah get our commercial license, then we will really open the floodgates and onboard all kinds of businesses
  38. Iman said Safepay is sticking mostly to e-commerce for now. We're sticking to e-commerce mostly at the moment.
  39. Iman said Safepay's goal is to onboard thousands of Pakistani businesses. our goal is to onboard thousands of Pakistani businesses
  40. Iman said Safepay built tools so businesses can accept payments simply. we've built tools so they can do this simply
  41. Iman said Safepay wants Pakistanis to join the global economy. we want uh Pakistanis to join the global economy
  42. Iman said Safepay checks businesses through know-your-customer onboarding. while doing the know your customer process so that it's secure
  43. Iman said Safepay is focusing on online payments for now. Right now we're focusing more on online payments.
  44. Iman said Safepay took part in Visa's Everywhere Initiative about two years ago. we participated in the, uh, VEI Visa Everywhere Initiative about two years ago
  45. Iman said she represented Safepay and received a lot of mentoring from Visa. I represented Safepay and, uh, had a lot of mentoring from Visa.
  46. Iman said Safepay was the only Pakistani fintech in that competition. We were the only Pakistani fintech in that competition.
  47. Iman said Safepay won the audience award, fan favorite, in that competition. Safepay won the audience award, fan favorite
  48. Iman said the team had about two weeks to prepare for the competition. I think we had about two weeks to prepare for the competition.
  49. Iman said she thinks the only constant is change. I always think that the only constant is change
  50. Iman said that, as a young population, people should all work together. let's all work together because we're a young population
  51. Iman said that times are tough but that, hopefully, they will be out of it. times are tough, but we'll be out of it, hopefully