INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Uber may be global but it is very much the alternative in some parts of the world
One such place is Bangladesh — the South Asian country that home to 160 million people —where local rival Pathao is backed by Go-Jek
and recently raised $10 million
Now Pathao closest rival, Shohoz, has also pulled in investment after it closed a $15 million funding round.
Shohoz — which means ‘easy&
in Bengali — started in 2014 offering online bus ticket sales beforeexpanding into other ticketslike ferries
The startup moved intoon-demand services in January when it added motorbikes and then it recently introduced private cars
CEOMalihaQuadirtold TechCrunch that it is now registering one million completed rides per month as it bids to &simplify& life in capital
city Dhaka, which houses over 18 million people and offers limited transport options.
Bus tickets will remain an important part of our
business, [there&s] lots of synergy with ride-sharing,& she explained in an interview
&Dhaka has a super dense population with bad infrastructure, if anything there a better case for ride-sharing than Indonesia… there no
subway and transport is a horrid nightmare.
Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures — which recently closed a $100 million fund — led the
Linear VC of China, 500 Startups andSingaporean-based angel investor Koh Boon Hwee also took part.
The Shohoz ride-hailing app launched in
January 2018
Quadir, who graduated from Havard and spent time working in finance in the United States and Singapore, told TechCrunch
thatShohoz plans to double down on its ride-sharing business with the new round
In particular, the plan is to expandbeyond Dhaka soon.
Then it is also eyeing up services that&ll take it beyond point-to-point
transportation and into ‘super app& territory in the style of Go-Jek and Grab, the two Southeast Asia-based unicorns
For Shohoz, that&ll initially include food delivery, but there are also plans to add on-demand services — Go-Jek, for example, offers
services like groceries, hairdressers or massages on demand
Ultimately,Quadirplans to add financial services, too, which could mean payments and financial products in the future.
While the super apps
of Southeast Asia have all expanded beyond their home markets,Shohoz isn''t looking to go international quite yet.
It in my mind but there
so much to do in Bangladesh,& Quadir explained
&In Bangladesh, you can really make an impact — it a green field.
As for Uber,Quadiracknowledged that the United States firm has done a
good job on private car vehicles but she said its Uber Moto service is dwarfed by local alternatives
It appears that Shohoz bet on becoming a super app is aimed at emulating the likes of Didi Chuxing in China and Grab in Southeast Asia that
ultimately beat Uber using a localized strategy that went well beyond rides
Given that Pathao is pursuing the same strategy, three might well be a crowd in Bangladesh and that could spell difficulty for Uber.
