Pathao, Bangladesh’s largest digital services company, is awaiting a central bank licence to set up a digital bank. The proposed Pathao Digital Bank is a natural progression of the company’s mission to enhance the lives of its 10 million young consumers and 500,000 drivers, delivery agents, and SME entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, according to a press release from the digital services company. Pathao feels the needs of this segment remain unaddressed by the local financial sector. They qualify for and need access to credit and yet face an unreasonably high barrier, because traditional banks and financial institutions lack the distribution, data and technological capabilities to assess the creditworthiness of these consumers and technology-enabled asset-light small businesses. With its rich customer data, advanced analytics and engineering capabilities, Pathao believes it is uniquely positioned to solve the financial access problem of this segment – a sample of which was presented with Pathao Pay Later, Bangladesh’s “first and largest” Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solution. Body of Pathao driver recovered from Tongi’s Turag river Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Pathao Pay Later offers flexible spending limits and a frictionless user experience to over 100,000 of Pathao’s most loyal and active customers. The product has seen remarkably low delinquencies since its launch on November 16, 2021. Further, in April 2023, Pathao was awarded a payment service provider (PSP) licence to launch a digital payment wallet; Pathao Pay is already in closed beta testing and will be rolled out commercially in the coming months. A digital banking licence would provide the regulatory framework for Pathao to unleash its cutting-edge technology to truly enable consumers and small businesses to transact how they want, access funds when they need, and manage funds how they should. Pathao rider killed in city road crash      “Pathao is far more than a brand, or a suite of products – it is a lifestyle. Just as it has radically transformed urban transportation and the gig economy in Bangladesh, Pathao Digital Bank will reshape banking in Bangladesh. With this, we believe we can catalyse an important growth stage of the Bangladesh economy,” said Fahim Ahmed, managing director and CEO of Pathao. Founded in 2015, Pathao is a market leader in ride-sharing, food delivery and e-commerce logistics, serving more than 10 million consumers, daily earners and small businesses. All three verticals are profitable. With $50 million in capital raised, Pathao is one of the most highly funded start-ups in Bangladesh. The company was recently awarded the Employment Catalyst Award by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for outstanding contribution to job creation, particularly in the youth segment. Pathao Courier to get upay cash collection solutions  

A motorbike rider of Pathao, a ride sharing app, was killed as a bus hit the motorcycle in Jatrabari area of the capital on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Md Sajal, a resident of Jatrabari. The accident occurred around 11am when a bus of ‘Al-Arafah Paribahan’ hit his motorcycle in Kajla area of Jtrabari on his way to Signboard area, leaving him injured, said Monir Hossain, bother of the deceased. Read more: Man on bike killed by city bus He was later rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) where doctors declared him dead, said Inspector Bachhu Mia, in-charge of DMCH outpost. The body has been kept at the hospital morgue. Police also seized the killer vehicle but failed to arrest the driver, he added.

Mobile financial service provider upay has signed an agreement with Pathao to facilitate cash collection from Pathao Courier hubs across the country. Under the deal, upay will provide cash collection solutions to Pathao Courier Service, a concern of digital platform Pathao. Upay, a subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, will collect cash from 53 points of Pathao Courier service across the country. Read Pathao brings down its commission on bike rides Rezaul Hossain, managing director and CEO of upay, and Fahim Ahmed, CEO of Pathao, signed the agreement Thursday in the capital. Rezaul Hossain said, "We are happy to provide the cash collection solutions to Pathao, which will help them manage their business efficiently by reducing cash management hassle." Fahim said: "The agreement offers a highly advanced, secure, and efficient platform to Pathao Courier." Read Pathao introduces 'Pay Later' Upay customers enjoy a range of services, including fund transfer; utility bill, merchant, traffic-fine, Indian visa fee payments; airtime recharge, inward remittances, salary and government social safety net, and other value-added financial services. Pathao is a market leader in ride-sharing, food delivery, and e-commerce logistics.

Pathao has brought down its commission on bike rides to allow riders to earn up to 90 percent of the trip fare. Effective November 25, Pathao will be taking 10 percent of the bike ride fare during peak hours (8 AM to 11 AM and 5 PM to 8 PM) and up to 15 percent during the off-peak hours. This is the lowest rate of commission charged by any platform in Bangladesh, according to a press release. Read:Pathao introduces 'Pay Later' Previously, Pathao charged 15 percent as commission on two-wheel rides in Dhaka and 25 percent in Chattogram and Sylhet. The new commission structure is applicable nationwide. This change will contribute to making the bike ride-sharing service even more reliable for users, especially during peak hours, as they will now enjoy the greater availability of riders looking to maximise their earnings. CEO and managing director of Pathao  Fahim Ahmed said Pathao has created opportunities for the aspiring riders to earn more and improve their lives. Read: Pathao users can pay fares through bKash “With this commission cut, we wanted to recognise the largest and most loyal pool of riders at Pathao, who are ensuring a safe and reliable experience for our users," he said.

Startups have been around for quite a while now in Bangladesh. The success of several startups has prompted many to venture into the field and take a dig at the market. However, the success of a startup depends on the idea, effort to realize the idea, and considerable risk intake. The high risk has caused many startups to fail. Yet there are some glaring examples of startups that are defying odds to make a change in the existing market process. Let's have a look at the 7 most promising tech startups in Bangladesh. Pathao One of the prominent startups of Bangladesh is Pathao. Founded in 2015 by Fahim Saleh, Hussain M Elius, and Shifat Adnan, the company is a major startup that changed the ride-sharing and delivery service landscape of Bangladesh. Initially, the company started its service as a parcel delivery platform through riders. In 2016, the company started its ride-sharing service as well. The popularity of the platform grew instantly and in 2018, the valuation of the company stood at 100 million dollars. It was also the time the company reached a million registered user mark. Currently, Pathao operates in Dhaka, Gazipur, Chittagong, Sylhet, and Kathmandu. In its initial days, the company received funding from RC Ventures, Alter Global, Provident Growth, and other firms. Read The Difference between a Startup and a Small Business bKash Another prominent startup of Bangladesh is bKash. Back in the 2000s, mobile banking platforms were getting considerable traction. Two brothers Kamal Quadir and Iqbal Quadir wanted to introduce a similar platform in Bangladesh and to that end, they started holding talks with Sir Fazle Abed of Brac Bank. In July 2011, bKash came into existence as a joint venture between BRAC bank and Money in Motion LLC of USA. bKash has been a key player noting that over 70 percent of the people lived in the rural area of Bangladesh and most of them were unbanked. bKash tapped into this need and initially started as a money transaction platform through mobile. With time, they have established other services like bill pays mobile top-up and payment to another e-commerce platform as well. Today, almost 22% of the adult population of Bangladesh uses bKash with daily transactions of over 4.5 million times. bKash also gained investor from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as equity hold from Ant Financial. Due to the paradigm shift created by bKash in the banking sector, the platform was awarded the most innovative invention of Bangladesh in 2018. Read Some Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs in Bangladesh in Diverse Sectors ME SOLshare One of the common gripes with developmental opportunity in Bangladesh is that the majority of the people lives in a rural area. Even though Bangladesh has made considerable strides in HDI, access to basic features like electricity is still a costly affair for many. To that end, ME SOLshare Ltd. ventured out to provide an affordable solar panel for electricity solution to the rural community of Bangladesh.  The technology introduced by ME SOLshare is revolutionary considering the peer-to-peer grid system where electricity from one home can be shared to another and excess energy can be sold as well. This not only helps people to illuminate their homes but also provides them with a scope to earn from the venture. ME SOLshare has received backing from Sangam Ventures, Social Alpha, and Free Electrons and has been able to raise over 2.8 million in funding. Read Online Business: How to Get Started from Home? Zantrik Most of the successful startups that you will see aren’t limited to traditional business models. Rather the idea is to better approach the client base with a solution that disrupts the market. For most of us, we go to a mechanic for an issue with our automobiles and bikes. But what if it's not in a state to be moved by itself? The founder of Zantrik tapped into this necessity and created a platform where the automobile mechanic will come to you. suppose if your car or bike breaks down in the road, the company can send a technician in 30 minutes. You can also make use of their partner garages to get your cars or automobiles fixed or checked. They are currently available on both iOS and Android platforms. The company has managed to raise over 72k dollars in funding from black diamond ventures. Read Passive Income Ideas in Bangladesh in 2021 ShopUp The boom of e-commerce platforms in Bangladesh has been remarkable in recent years. Most of these e-commerce ventures are limited to run their business through F-commerce and social media platforms with manual handling of orders. ShopUp wanted to make changes to this existing process by introducing a software solution that will enable businesses to automate the ordering and product delivery process. The cheap availability, as well as usability of the software, made ShopUp an instant hit among that retail online merchants. Since its foundation in 2016, the company has managed to garner over 28 million dollars in funding and has been one of the leading tech startups in Bangladesh. Read Small Business Ideas for F-commerce Startups in Bangladesh during Pandemic Gaze Technology Silicon valley of the US is famous for all the tech and AI-related startups. It is almost like a hub for AI development. However, Gaze technology is an AI-driven tech startup right here in Bangladesh. with access to limited resources and funding, the company has been determined to make its mark in using AI and API integration to make Bangladesh safer. The company works to develop real-time tracking, facial recognition technology as well as a vehicle tracking technology. The company has worked with Dhaka Metropolitan Police to make traffic monitoring easier by integrating AI in the recognition system. The company aims to grab the international AI-led recognition market which is estimated to be valued at over 50 billion US dollars. Gaze raised seed money of over 830 thousand dollars to develop their AI venture. Read Zero Investment Business Ideas to Try Amidst the Pandemic Sheba.xyz One of the most promising startups in the e-commerce sector has to be the Sheba.xyz venture. Whereas most of the e-commerce platform focuses on a specific niche of product or service, Sheba.xyz decided to incorporate everything under one roof. The primary focus of Sheba is addressing the daily necessity of people. Whatever you might in your daily life, you will find it on the platform. From home shifting to the beauty salon to laundry service, everything will be brought to your doors. This not only made the life of people easier but also propelled the platform to one of the top e-commerce sites of Bangladesh with high client satisfaction and retention rate. The platform received an initial investment of 70 thousand dollars from Microsoft and Facebook. Read Top FMCG Companies in Bangladesh: At a Glance Bottom Line The tech startup scene in Bangladesh is still in its nascent stage with more and more companies waiting to have their breakthrough moment. However, the ones that we mentioned here have already been successful in creating a model that would effectively make them useful for the people and grow at a profitable rate. These startups can work as inspiration for others to develop their strategies to better generate ideas and processes.

Do you want to avoid the everyday struggle of managing transport to attain office, workplace, or college? The painstaking efforts of riding an overloaded bus or convincing an arrogant CNG driver can ruin your mood at the beginning of the day. Besides the common risks like accidents, harassment, and pick-pocketing, public transports are risky places for coronavirus contamination. In this situation, on-demand ride-sharing apps can serve as a windfall for the mass people who can hardly afford personal transports. Today we are going to discuss the best ride-sharing apps in Bangladesh. Stay with us!

Pathao co-founder Fahim Saleh’s executive assistant Tyrese Devon Haspil, who has been charged with murdering the tech entrepreneur in a Manhattan apartment on July 14, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

On-demand ride-sharing platforms have seen a dramatic rise since 2016 as a means of living for many and a support for a faster commuting across the capital until Covid-19 pandemic hit the country hard in March. The commuters suffered but not as much as the people who solely relied on it to make a living. 

 

Pathao co-founder Fahim Saleh’s executive assistant Tyrese Devon Haspil, who has been charged with murdering of the tech entrepreneur in a Manhattan apartment on July 14, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.