<article>Ride-hailing firm Pathao, the Go-Jek of Bangladesh, is in talks with multiple venture capital (VC) funds to raise more than $5 million in its Series A round, according to two people aware of the development.</article>

Ride-hailing firm Pathao, the Go-Jek of Bangladesh, is in talks with multiple venture capital (VC) funds to raise more than $5 million in its Series A round, according to two people aware of the development.
Founded by Hussain Elius, the firm started out in 2015 as a delivery partner to e-commerce merchants and now claims to be the biggest e-commerce delivery company in Bangladesh. In 2016, it expanded into the ride-hailing transportation space with a fleet of motorbikes. Elius has been quoted in several media reports as claiming that Pathao does &#8220;thousands of rides&#8221;.
When contacted by DEALSTREETASIA, a Pathao spokesperson declined to comment on the company&#8217;s fundraising plans.
According to Crunchbase, Pathao had raised an undisclosed amount in its seed round from Battery Road Digital Holdings in October 2015.
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is among the world&#8217;s most congested cities. In a recent report, the World Bank noted that average traffic speed in the city has dropped from 21 km/hour to 7 km/hour, only slightly above the average walking speed, in the last 10 years. Congestion in Dhaka is estimated to eat up 3.2 million working hours per day.
Other ride-hailing companies in Bangladesh include BDCABS, Chalo, Garivara, Taxiwala, and bike-hailing startup Amarbike.  BDCABS, which allows users to hail an auto-rickshaw as well as cars, had last year raised seed funding from Turkish startup accelerator Etohum. While the amount of the investment was not disclosed, the round valued the company at $6.5 million.
US ride-hailing giant Uber, too, launched its operations in Bangladesh in November last year. However, just three days after the roll-out, its services were declared illegal by the country’s transport regulator, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). The BRTA said Uber had launched its service in Dhaka without permission from the authorities.
The company has since resumed its operations in the country. BRTA recently came up with draft guidelines for ride-sharing firms in a bid to ensure service quality and passenger security.
India&#8217;s ride hailing startup Ola is also planning to launch operations in Dhaka, its first market outside of India, by the fourth quarter of this year, according to a <a href="https://the-ken.com/ola-international/">report</a> by The Ken. The firm also plans to expand services to Chittagong later.
Ride hailing firms have emerged as an investor favourite around the world. Some of the largest deals this year include Chinese ride-hailing major Didi Chuxing‘s $5.5 billion fundraise in May and Indonesia&#8217;s Go-Jek raising a $1.2 billion Series C round.

Bike-hailing firm Pathao started as an e-commerce delivery provider and in 2016, expanded into the ride-hailing transportation space.

Exclusive: Pathao, Go-Jek of Bangladesh, in talks to raise more than $5m in Series A

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Exclusive: Pathao, Go-Jek of Bangladesh, in talks to raise more than $5m in Series A

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