Bangladeshi startup ShopUp wants to be listed on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (Nasdaq) stock market.
Founder and CEO of ShopUp Afeef Zaman was speaking at a knowledge-sharing program titled “Insight Exchange: Behind the Scenes of a Startup” at a hotel in the capital on Sunday.
“Many people have misconceptions about startups. Startup is not a business model, it’s a way of starting a business. We help to connect manufacturers with retail. 65% of our investors are foreign. That’s why we want to be listed in Nasdaq as the first Bangladeshi company. This is our dream,” the ShopUp CEO further said.
“It is a very hard task, but possible. When we will get listed, foreign investors will be more attracted to invest in our company. If we can work together, I hope we will be the first Nasdaq-listed company from Bangladesh.
Mamun Rashid, president of ShopUp, said: “Our job is to bring products from big producers to small shops, so that they can deliver to consumers on time and at a fair price. Although we do not deal directly with consumers, we connect manufacturers with retailers.”
“We have reached over 31 million people through a vast network of small shops. Our target is to increase it to 80 million,” he added.
Peter Theil was one of ShopUp's investors, who was also an investor in Facebook.
He invested $500,000 on Facebook, but he earned $1 billion in return. The failure rate of startups is around 90%.
“Investors invest with risk because if a startup succeeds, all their investment is recovered. After five years, we can say now that we are safe,” the ShopUp founder added.
ShopUp’s Chief Product Officer Ataur Rahim Chowdhury, Chief Business Officer Sujayath Ali and Chief Technology Officer Navaneetha Krishnan J were also present at this program.
