Mass Transportation Platform Jatri Raises Oversubscribed Pre-Series A of $1.2 million

From the left Md. Zia Uddin, Co-Founder Aziz Arman CEO and Khondokar Taswar Zahin, Co-Founder Jatri.

Bangladesh and Singapore based public transportation platform Jatri has raised $1.2 million in a pre series A round participated in by Reflect Ventures, BTFV vision fund, SBK tech ventures, and prominent global strategic mobility investors. As well, existing investors took part in the round.

TV24 Desk: In about two years of its operations, the company has nailed a strong presence digitizing the operations wıth thousands of bus partners and transacting over 3.5 million transport tickets over its proprietary platform, across just 3 in the cıtıes that counts 170.000.000 population that on a daily basis uses this mode of transportation as its preference.

Jatri is rapidly expanding its operations throughout Bangladesh with double digit month on month growth through strategic government and private sector partnerships. Jatri was founded by Aziz Arman, Khandokar Taswar Zahin and Zia Uddin in early 2019 with the vision to comfort public transportation travel in one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

Jatri provides smart technological solutions for the public transport industry with a platform providing digital services to customers and bus operators.

In its early days, Jatri started to automate traditional ticketing, which was almost ubiquitous in the Bangladeshi public transport sector. While Bangladesh is rapidly evolving in terms of technology, technology has so far been underutilized in public transport ticketing.

Jatri’s pioneering efforts to deliver transparency and efficiency to the inventory of its transport partners, which as of writing are water and bus transport, have made a pivotal change in the way Bangladeshis travel and facilitated a journey planner service for the transport operators.

This current pre-series A round will fuel Jatri to rapidly expand its nationwide coverage and service offering that goes beyond ticketing and rentals.

To establish a noteworthy footprint in the sector, Jatri has partnered with the Government transport corporation BRTC to offer a wide selection of routes which may result in a mass adoption of its services within the nation.Earlier this year, Jatri also attained the ride-sharing license from BRTA to contribute better quality bus segments with premium microbuses.

Beyond the popular inter and intra city operators in the private sector, Its operations are intertwined with stakeholders and proprietors of the public transport sector, creating waves of change in day-to-day bus operations.

Aziz Arman, co-founder and CEO of Jatri: The progress of Jatri is a testament to the dire need for digital reforms in the Bangladeshi transportation sector. We are determined to ride on that momentum with this fresh round of funding along with our diverse set of industry specialists and investors with connections to continue to expand our services. We are truly grateful to the indisputable support and trust we’ve received from BRTC, prıvate bus owners and our users. We look forward to deepening the trust they have placed in us.”

Jatri’s role in reopening public transportation in the wake of COVID-19 has been pivotal in ensuring a safer commute for the mass populace. Its mission to promote contactless and hygienic services was further invoked by the fortuitous timing of the pandemic, being a godsend for bus operators to combat the lockdowns and obtain a systematic approach to reopening cities.

Michael Friedman, Founder at Reflect Ventures said:
“Bangladesh’s recent growth shows that it is following the same pattern as more developed countries did a decade ago. As more people get smartphones, the first-movers in technology services will be the winners. In Bangladesh, most people are heavily dependent on public transport and Jatri’s service offering is truly a game-changer for the public transport industry. We are impressed by Jatri’s progress, we believe in the team, and we are thrilled to be part of Jatri.”

Sonia Bashir Kabir, Managing Director, SBK Tech Ventures said:
“While technology has touched every aspect of our lives solving intricate & complicated problems, many of us have forgotten to solve problems that are right in front of us. I congratulate the founders of Jatri for embracing problems of the masses and impacting public transport in Bangladesh in a transformative manner.”

Goh seng wee, Managing Director at BTFV Vision Fund said:

“When I was first introduced to Arman, I knew he was a promising and driven founder, who has shown visionary thinking and perfect execution. He’s strategic, ambitious, and humble. We are rooting for Jatri to grow onwards and upwards!”

Jatri is moving forward to rapidly develop a sustainable and resilient platform that yields hyperlocal, personalized and industry-specific solutions for Bangladesh. With these solutions ironing out issues that this country has been facing for decades, Jatri hopes to enhance the overall transportation industry’s reliability and quality.

Jatri media sites : Website: https://www.jatri.co/ , Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jatri-app/

-G Dustogir Touhid/tv24/13sep/21

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