Shuttle, a mass-transit startup based in Bangladesh, has raised $750,000 in a seed round, led by venture capital firm Accelerating Asia recently.
Robi Axiata Ltd (r-ventures), Impact Collective (The Ventures, South Korea) and Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN) are some of the investors that participated in the round, said a press release.
Also, angel investors from home and abroad, including logistics experts such as Uber's Head of Mobility Innovation Programs, and Co-founder & Managing Director of foodpanda Bangladesh were also present.
Shuttle provides the service in air-conditioned minivans, accommodating 10-11 people, who can safely commute together by paying less than one-fourth of ride-sharing cars.
The company started its journey back in 2018 with a women-only service to solve a pressing issue in Bangladesh – the lack of safe transportation for women.
The startup currently has more than 20,000 women registered in their platform for the “Shuttle for Women'' service and has completed more than a million successful rides.
Shuttle recently extended its services further and incorporated “Shuttle for Business” in 2020. In wake of Covid-19, this initiative aided organizations to ensure safe and sanitized transportation for their moving employees during the lockdown.
The company envisions making safe and comfortable transportation affordable and accessible for mass people in the developing countries.
“When we started, we figured out that different segments of people in the society (women, men, businesses, school and university students etc.) have different needs and different priorities and one solution for all will not solve the problems. We realized that 21st century mass-transit solutions need to cater to the unique needs of each of these segments separately," said Reyasat Chowdhury, co-founder and CEO of Shuttle.
Shuttle is also eligible for receiving Impact Ready Matching Fund of up to $100,000 from Biniyog Briddhi - a multi-year program dedicated to supporting a thriving ecosystem where impact enterprises of Bangladesh can grow and scale their impact.
Biniyog Briddhi was set up as a public-private development partnership (PPDP) between the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, Roots of Impact, and LightCastle Partners.
Previously, Shuttle raised a pre-seed round from Robi Axiata and in total, it has raised close to $1 million so far.
“We first met Shuttle back at the end of 2018, when they were just starting out. Since then, Shuttle has grown their core product and diversified their offerings significantly. During the Accelerating Asia accelerator program, we saw the team’s ability to execute on ideas, launch new products and resilience within the team when they successfully launched Shuttle for Business and signed clients including top MNCs in tough market conditions," said Amra Naidoo, co-founder and general partner from Accelerating Asia.
“Shuttle is one of our most innovative solutions and it has shown continued progress in delivering services in different ways. We will continue to support Shuttle and we strongly believe, Shuttle will continue to grow in coming days founded on their entrepreneurial mindset, resilience and hunger for success," said Shihab Ahmad, chief commercial officer of Robi and sponsor of r-ventures.
The startup has a total addressable market of $7.5 billion only in Bangladesh and the team believes that the same solution can be replicated in other developing countries and densely populated cities as well.
CEO of Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN), Nirjhor Rahman said that both intra-city and inter-city mass commute in Bangladesh is dangerous, unreliable and unsafe, especially for women.
Reyasat and his team are building a 21st century bus service for Bangladesh and beyond and we are excited to be part of the journey, he added.
