Hi, it’s Moeen again, and I’m writing my second week’s article for the ongoing writeathon challenge in Hashnode.
Today, I’ll talk about Pathao, an uprising company in Bangladesh. Why it inspired me, what it taught me.
Let’s get started.
Pathao is a bike ride-sharing service that now operates in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Kathmandu. It was launched in December 2016 by two university students. Interestingly, it started as a delivery service with just bi-cycles only. The primary services it provides are just like Go-Jek or UberMoto but in a wider sense.
So, why does it inspires me the most? In my country, there are good numbers of rising companies and startups. But Pathao first came to solve a real problem for the people.
Primarily, they solved the messy traffic problem around Dhaka (capital of Bangladesh) in a more convenient way.
How?
With their service, you just call a person who registered with their motorbike and request where you want to go, just like Uber. The driver came, and you hop on. You don’t need to wait for the bus if you’re a busy person. The problem of traffic jams is real in Dhaka, and it’s frustrating. They’re the ones who solved the problem. Bike riding is way easier than the hassle of public transportation obviously.
Second, they solved the employment problem in Bangladesh. It enables the lower or middle-income person to start their career easily. You have a bike, you can Pathao! You can be self-employed yourself and you don’t need to face the hassle of finding a job.
The idea of ride-sharing wasn't new as I mentioned before but two-wheeler ride-sharing didn’t exist before they came to Bangladesh. Uber came a year later and they also introduced their bike-ride sharing service but they couldn’t sustain it. As they are a foreign company, they didn’t find the true problem of the people.
There were multiple factors why Pathao won over the giant Uber. First the price and trust, a typical ride would cost us less than $1.50, while an average Uber ride cost around $5 to $6. It’s not a very competitive figure though but if we convert the dollar value in our currency, it came to TAKA 150 for Pathao and TAKA 500+ for Uber. If you want to save your money and also want to reach your destination fast, what’d you choose?
Next, is building trust. The first registered bikers came to drive motorcycles as their side income. You’re returning to your house from work on your bike, on that trip you can pick another person who maybe lives in your area or maybe you'll pass their area. Just simple as that.
Unlike Go-Jek, you don’t need to wear their branded (weird! no offense) uniform and helmet. You can start with what you have already like a freelancer!
After two years of service, Pathao received over $10 Million in the pre-series B according to Tech Crunch led by Go-Jek! After that, they received 8 total investments from many foreign companies and Startup Bangladesh. And the valuation was over $100 Million.
Hussein Elius - Founder of Pathao
The amazing growth of Pathao has inspired many young entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. Unlike in other countries, entrepreneurs suffer from finding an investor. It’s hard, as our country is still in the developing stage. Entrepreneurship is a luxury for us. They help us to believe anyone can start building a startup if they have the right solution for an existing problem. No matter where we’re from, what we do. They always prefer quality over quantity and prioritize the customer needs, by giving what they actually need. In their work, they continue to reflect on building trust more conveniently. Unlike many other companies, they value people over numbers.
So long I was talking only about their primary service, bike-ride sharing. Apart from that they also have Car sharing and Logistic services like food delivery, parcel and courier. Their inspiring story was also featured on TechCrunch, Nasdaq, TECH IN ASIA, and CNBC.
I tried to mention a fraction of an inspiring story and pointed out what inspires me.
Hopefully, that was not a boring read.
Thanks so much for the time to read it through. 🙏