Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka
Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem is maturing, with an increasing number of startups, incubators, accelerators, and investors. While the capital city, Dhaka, remains the main hub for startups, other cities such as Chittagong and Sylhet are also emerging.
The government has been supportive by launching initiatives such as Startup Bangladesh, a flagship VC company, and the ICT Division’s Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) project.
Sectors such as fintech, healthtech, edutech, e-commerce, logistics, and agritech are the key drivers, with fintech, in particular, seeing rapid growth with startups focusing on mobile payments, digital wallets, and microfinance.
Despite the growth, startups in Bangladesh face challenges such as regulatory hurdles, limited access to capital, and inadequate infrastructure. Skill gaps and talent retention are also significant issues, with many skilled professionals seeking opportunities abroad.
However, the future looks promising, with continuous improvements in infrastructure, increased government support, and growing investor interest. Bangladesh’s young and tech-savvy population is a significant asset, providing a robust base for future entrepreneurs.
We have compiled Bangladesh’s hottest startups below:
PriyoShop 
An online B2B marketplace offering multi-category products, including electronics, fashion, beauty, stationery, and groceries. It also connects wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers, and customers.
Also Read: Accelerating Asia, Iterative back B2B retail marketplace PriyoShop’s US$5M round
Founding year: 2013
Total funding raised: US$5.6 million
Investors: Century Oak Ventures, SOSV, GFR Fund, Bonbillo, Accelerating Asia, South Asia Tech, Voltity, Iterative, Bansea, Accelerating Asia.
Chaldal 
An online grocery store offering multi-category grocery products. The product category includes baby care, pet care, food, home cleaning, office supplies, and other daily needs. The company claims to deliver within 4 hours in other areas around Dhaka.
Founding year: 2013
Total funding raised: US$20.4 million
Investors: Startup Bangladesh, Xploration Capital, Mir Group, Y Combinator, Razor Capital, IDLC Finance, IFC, 7percent Ventures, 500 Global, ACE & Company, Mavcap, Inflection Ventures, Christina Ventures, COENT Venture Partners, Beenext, Wombat Capital, Reapra, Breakform Ventures, Cherubic Ventures, Metaplanet, Digital4s, Tech Emerge, Beresford Ventures, Alter, TPN Investments.
Shohoz 
An online platform offering two-wheeler ride-hailing and food delivery services. The platform offers a range of services, including online bus ticket booking, railway e-ticketing, and event ticketing.
Founding year: 2014
Total funding raised: US$18.4 million
Investors: VNV Global, Golden Gate Ventures, Heritas Capital Management, Linear Venture,
ADN Telecom, Partech Partners, Cypress Capital, Tekton Ventures, 500 Global, Fenox Venture Capital, Pegasus Tech Ventures.
Jatri 
An app-based platform for tracking and booking bus tickets. It offers a subscription-based solution to users. Users can subscribe to a plan, book tickets, and track buses on the platform. Users can book bus tickets by specifying the journey points, date, and time on the platform.
Founding year: 2019
Total funding raised: US$5.3 million
Investors: Undisclosed.
Pathao 
A mobile app offering food delivery and ride-hailing services. The app allows users to order food based on their locations. It also offers services like ride-hailing, cab, parcel delivery services, etc. The app also offers multi-category products like fashion, beauty, toys, home improvement, and art & craft stationery.
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: US$2.8 million
Investors: Startup Bangladesh, The Osiris Group, Gojek, Openspace Ventures, K3 Ventures, Adventure Capital, RC Ventures, Agaeti Venture Capital, Provident Growth, Trihill Capital, AC Ventures, Alter.
Shuttle 
An online platform to book shuttle services for women passengers. It’s an app-based pick-and-drop service. Its shuttle runs on a specific route.
Founding year: 2018
Total funding raised: US$2.5 million
Investors: South Asia Tech, Bangladesh Angels, Accelerating Asia, Startup Bangladesh, Robi Axiata, Impact Collective, TheVentures, SBK Tech Ventures.
iFarmer 
A full-stack agritech startup that provides smallholder farmers with finance, high-quality inputs, agronomic advisory, and access to the market. It provides a one-stop solution using technology.
Founding year: 2017
Total funding raised: US$2.2 million
Investors: IDLC Finance, Startup Bangladesh, Millville Opportunities Fund, Falcon Network, Accelerating Asia, Zayn Capital.
Zantrik 
An app-based platform that provides on-demand automotive services and breakdown assistance for cars and motorbikes in Bangladesh. Users can avail of onsite services or schedule services at partnered workshops at their convenience.
Founding year: 2018
Total funding raised: US$1.7 million
Investors: Bangladesh Angels, Startup Bangladesh, Accelerating Asia, BD Venture.
Shomvob 
An online job board platform. It allows candidates to browse and apply for vacancies based on location, department, etc. The target sectors include IT, customer services, human resources, security, and warehouse.
Also Read: Cocoon Capital invests in Bangladesh’s B2B job-tech platform Shomvob’s US$1M round
Founding year: 2021
Total funding raised: US$1 million
Investors: Cocoon Capital, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
bKash 
A mobile financial services and payment systems for consumers. It features a solution for money transfers, mobile recharges, utility bill payments, and others. Users can dial a number to initiate the transaction, fill in the account, and amount, and the money will be sent to the receivers mobile.
Founding year: 2011
Total funding raised: US$261 million
Investors: SoftBank Vision Fund, Alipay, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, IFC, Gray Ghost Ventures.
Romoni 
An online appointment booking platform for at-home beauty services. It is a marketplace where users can order beauty and tailoring services. The services include bridal makeup, manicure, pedicure, facials, and spa treatment.
Founding year: 2018
Total funding raised: US$740,000
Investors: Accelerating Asia, SiliconCapital.
DoctorKoi 
An online doctor appointment platform. Users can search for doctors by location and medical speciality and book appointments online. The platform also provides information on the initial consultation fee.
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: US$700,000
Investors: VERGE, Accelerating Asia, SBK Tech Ventures.
HandyMama 
An online platform that provides home cleaning and handyman services. All service professionals are vetted and background-checked. The services include cleaning, electrical work, plumbing, appliance repair, carpentry, and painting.
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: US$315,000
Investors: BD Venture, Fenox Venture Capital, Accelerating Asia, Pegasus Tech Ventures.
Socian AI 
A provider of NLP-based speech recognition and conversational AI solutions. It provides AI-based chatbots, speech-to-text, voice recognition, and sentiment analysis. It also allows users to collect data from various sources and analyse it to understand data insights. It features keyword extraction, geo-location mapping and management, cluster creation, and data interpretation solutions.
Founding year: 2016
Total funding raised: US$2,30,000
Investors: Startup Bangladesh.
Interactive Cares 
A learning and development platform for multiple industries in Bangladesh, it offers educational courses and training on topics such as PHP, Laravel, FullStack web development, and MERN stack web development. It also offers solutions for studying abroad, jobs and recruitment, and freelancing.
Founding year: 2020
Total funding raised: US$100,000
Investors: Accelerating Asia
ShopUp 
ShopUp is a B2B e-commerce startup that connects small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with mills and manufacturers. It provides SMEs with a one-stop solution for sourcing products, reducing the time and effort required to find suppliers, negotiate terms, and orchestrate operations. Additionally, it acts as a nationwide platform for small manufacturers, mills, and brands to sell their products.
Also Read: Bangladeshi B2B e-commerce startup ShopUp aims for Nasdaq listing
The startup offers various value-added services, including financing and logistics support, to help small firms grow and compete with prominent players.
Founding year: 2018
Total funding raised: Over US$200 million
Investors: Valar Ventures, Prosus, Pierre Omidyar’s family office, Sequoia Capital India, VEON Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Lendable.
SOLShare 
SOLshare has developed a P2P solar electricity trading platform, which solves an immediate customer problem of today — physical access to energy. SOLshare enables customers to produce, trade, and consume this demand in a local microgrid. The company uses an energy meter connected to solar panels called SOLbox, which enables electricity trading between households and micro-enterprises so that excess energy won’t go to waste and can even go back to the supply grid for distribution.
Founding year: 2015
Total funding raised: US$2.2 million
Investors: innogy New Ventures, EDP (Portugal)
MedEasy 
A digital health platform that aims to simplify the lives of chronic patients in Bangladesh by providing authentic and affordable medicines sourced directly from trusted manufacturers. According to the company, its proprietary inventory management system and decentralised distribution network reduce delivery times by 4x compared to competitors.
Also Read: Seedstars, Accelerating Asia back Bangladeshi e-pharmacy startup MedEasy
Founding year: 2020
Total funding raised: US$750,000
Investors: Seedstars International Ventures, Doha Tech Angels, Startup Bangladesh Limited, Accelerating Asia, nVentures.
PulseTech
A provider of digital solutions for pharmacies and individuals, the company offers business management solutions for pharmacies, including MediPOS, a comprehensive Point of Sales (POS) management software, and Medbox B2B Medicine Supply Chain Solution. It also offers Medicart, a hyperlocal model of online pharmacy e-commerce where consumers can buy healthcare products.
Founding year: 2021
Total funding raised: US$1,20,000
Investors: Undisclosed.
10minuteschool 
A web-based educational platform providing video content and online tests in Bangladesh. It provides content material for school curriculum and skill development. It also offers a video library, preparation tips, model tests, and pre-scheduled live classes for admission preparation, competitive examinations, and university courses.
Founding year: 2013
Total funding raised: US$9.3 million
Investors: conjunction.capital, Surge, Startup Bangladesh, Sequoia Capital, SBK Tech Ventures.
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