Bangladesh’s online travel agency Go Zayaan raises $2.6m

Go Zayaan, a Dhaka-based online travel agency, announced raising $2.6 million in a seed round led by Southeast Asian venture capital firm Wavemaker Partners.

The funding round also saw the participation of 1982 Ventures, Iterative, and Century Oak Capital. A number of prominent angel investors also backed the fundraising.

Previously, the company raised its pre-seed round from BRAC Osiris Impact Ventures and OS Venture.

Go Zayaan plans to use the new round of funding to improve user experience, attract new talents, and bring more people and travel services online.

The funding round comes even as some countries in Asia continue to experience lockdowns and quarantines due to the global pandemic.

However, Go Zayaan said the Bangladeshi travel market is growing rapidly and yet less than 5% of bookings are being done online.

The startup is is actively bridging the wide gap by bringing accommodations and other travel services online.

It claims to make online booking easy for Bangladeshi consumers with trustworthy financing, comprehensive transport modes and lodging options, and seamless integrations with the country’s robust Mobile Financial Services (MFS) industry.

“The future is online; Bangladesh will be no different. We are here to build the future of travel,” said Go Zayaan founder Ridwan Hafiz.

Being a travel enthusiast himself, Hafiz knew the exact prerequisites to cater to the demands of the mass population of the country. Prior to Go Zayaan, he co-founded Analyzen in 2008, Bangladesh’s biggest and first Digital Marketing Agency.

Commenting on the investment, Paul Santos, managing partner at Wavemaker Partners in Southeast Asia, said the Go Zayaan team managed to showcase their resilience during the pandemic when tourism practically came to a halt.

“They partnered with local airlines, inter-city bus firms, and hundreds of hotels that had no digital presence and brought them online. This enabled the company to grow over the last 12 months and positions it to capture even more growth in the days ahead,” Santo said.

Go Zayaan has over 500,000 monthly active users and 40% repeat customers. It also generated 5X growth in 12 months even despite the pandemic.