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Sindabad.com, a Dhaka-based E-Commerce company promoted by Zero Gravity Ventures Limited, has secured US$ 4.15 million in Series A funding from Aavishkaar Frontier Fund (AFF), a venture fund managed by Aavishkaar, a leading Asian impact investment company.
Sindabad.com is the first and largest B2B e-commerce service in Bangladesh which provides business buyers such as offices, factories and other organizations a convenient, transparent and seamless platform for their manufacturing and consumption purchases with direct-to-office deliveries.
Launched in mid-2016, Sindabad.com already has leading Financial Institutions, RMG Manufacturers, Pharmaceuticals and Local Conglomerates in its customer portfolio.
Speaking on this funding, Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, Co-Founder and CEO, Sindabad.com said, “We have seen approximately 15% month-on-month growth on Sindabad.com, and currently have more than 500 corporate and 2,000 small companies as our customers.”
“This new investment in Zero Gravity’s Sindabad.com is beyond simple financing – rather, with the greater investment portfolio of AavishkaarVentures, we are looking toincorporate best practices and future collaborationwith similar companies and start-ups in the region who have already succeeded in the B2B space”, said Asif Zahir, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Zero Gravity.
Zero Gravity has an employee strength of nearly 250 and has already established 3 state-of-the-art warehouses and own delivery fleet in various parts of Dhaka.
”Aavishkaar believes Sindabad.com has the potential to rewrite the B2B transaction model for corporates and SMEs in Bangladesh. We look forward to working with the team in fine-tuning strategy and scaling up the business.”said Sanchayan Chakraborty, Partner at Aavishkaar.
Aavishkaar is an active investor in early and growth stage enterprises in India and broader Asia, practicing an entrepreneurship based approach to development; this is the third investment by Aavishkaar in Bangladesh.
Earlier,Frontier Fund – a Bangladesh-focused private equity fund managed by Brummer & Partners Bangladesh invested in the company. Frontier has invested in ten different companies in diversified sectors such as retail, automotive, pharmaceuticals, white-goods, RMG and online marketplace.
The State Minister of ICT, Bangaldesh, Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP, said, “Digital Bangladesh is no more a dream today – it is a reality!”.
Congratulating the founders, Mr. Palak further said, “These youngsters are not only taking Bangladesh e-Commerce ahead, but also have been able to attract multiple global investment firms to Bangladesh.”
Bangladesh currently has more than 250 websites in e-Commerce and an estimated 10,000+ Facebook-based shops. However, only a handful are attracting the funding that is required to take the companies beyond the boot-strapping stage. With the kind of investment a global company is putting into Zero Gravity, experts see the e-Commerce space gaining momentum and maturity.
-rmc//