Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN), the pioneering angel investment network in the country, has closed a pre-seed investment round into Zantrik, an automotive services platform that is introducing transparency, quality assurance and service consistency to a multi-billion dollar market by connecting vehicle owners with certified workshops.
Accelerating Asia, along with its network of Southeast Asia-based angel investors, also co-invested in this round.
The founder ideated the Startup after an incident in which he was stranded on the road without any support. After further research, he and his co-founders discovered the enormous inefficiencies in the automotive services sector, driven by unscrupulous shop owners who often diagnose the wrong services, use inferior or wrong spare parts and charge exorbitant amounts, often in collusion with drivers looking to supplement their incomes with kickbacks.
Seeing the opportunity, the team went through the Scaleup Bangladesh program, an accelerator supported by BetterStories Asia Limited, and began operations through the founder’s capital and an investment from BD Venture Limited.
Since that initial investment, Zantrik team has created a national network of workshops, served thousands of individual customers and developed tailored solutions for marquee corporate clients and partners.
“Zantrik was one of the most popular start-ups in our first-ever showcase among angel investors and it’s not hard to see why: A proven founding team with a history of commercial success in previous ventures, strong backing from reputable investors who are also BAN supporters and members, an enormous and growing market with a high level of fragmentation where digitization can provide significant value addition and a product-oriented founder who is absolutely relentless in execution. They are the clear market leader in this sector and everyone else is imitating what they are doing,” says Nirjhor Rahman, the CEO of Bangladesh Angels. Tameem Enam, director of Dutch-Bangla Pack Limited and the lead angel into Zantrik adds that “Zantrik is a truly unique organization operating to fill a void in the vehicle service industry, which has been rife with inefficiency and inconsistency. Zantrik is already well on its way to upend the market, spearheaded by a true visionary in Shubho [Al-Farooque, the CEO].”
The investments from BAN, Accelerating Asia and Angels from Singapore are being used to develop a range of products with technology and process innovation for both the domestic and potentially international markets that will be launched in early 2020, as well as a well-rounded team to execute as the business undergoes rapid expansion. Moreover, investors are providing extensive support for business development and corporate governance.
Since partnering with BAN, Zantrik has quadrupled its gross revenue and built strong partnerships with business customers such as Japan Tobacco International. With support from investors, the company has begun the process to raise a Series A round in 2020.
The official signing was done at Shuru Campus on Gulshan-Badda Link Road, Dhaka.
