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The Future Startup Dossier: Daraz Bangladesh

“There is nothing you can not find on Daraz”. 

That was how I came to know about Daraz from one of my friends back in 2018 and he was right. From socks to electronics, anything you want to buy, you’ll find on Daraz

Daraz, an Alibaba Group owned company, is an online marketplace and logistics company that operates in five South Asian markets: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Srilanka and Myanmar. Daraz was founded by two Pakistanis, Muneeb Maayr (Founder) & Farees Shah (Co-Founder) in 2012, at the Berlin-based venture builder Rocket Internet. In the beginning, it was an online fashion retailing website. But after being launched in Bangladesh and Myanmar back in 2015, it eventually morphed into a general online marketplace.

In 2016, Daraz initiated its operation in Nepal and Srilanka after acquiring Kaymu, a C2C and B2C online marketplace that operates in South Asia. 

In September 2017, in its Series B funding Daraz secured €50 million to expand its operation in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan. In that funding round Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), a development finance institution owned by the Government of UK invested €20 million along with Asia Internet Holdings, the majority shareholder of Daraz, who invested €30 million.

Two years after the acquisition of the Lazada Group, another startup of the Rocket Internet, by Alibaba, Daraz announced its acquisition by Alibaba group for an undisclosed amount of money in May, 2018.

Daraz.com.bd is one of the largest and most popular online marketplaces of Bangladesh. Since the beginning of its journey in Bangladesh, Daraz continues to add  new features to gain more traction. 

In 2019, Daraz launched Daraz Express, a premium delivery service through which products can be delivered within 24 hours inside Dhaka and 48 hours outside Dhaka.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Daraz has introduced the “Grocery” section to keep up with the other e-commerce players of the market.

 In 2020, Daraz has introduced “Daraz Village” where free Wi-Fi zones are being created in village markets to make the online marketplace of Daraz available to people living in remote areas.

Daraz continues to invest aggressively in the Bangladesh market. In order to understand the ecommerce landscape in Bangladesh, it is important to understand Daraz and its ambition going forward. In this dossier, we aim to offer you an in-depth understanding of Daraz, how it operates, many aspects of its business, and its ambition going forward. 


Read.

Daraz.com.bd officially starts operation | The Daily Star

During an exclusive Media Launching Ceremony at a 5-star hotel, Sumeet Singh – Founder & Chairman of daraz.com.bd, together with Kiren Tanna, Managing Director of Asia Pacific Internet Group (APACIG) – made the announcement and officially launched the Website to all invited reporters and guests.


Consolidation Begins in Dhaka's eCommerce Space as Daraz and Kaymu Merger Comes into Effect

“We are excited about being one team and one platform and look forward to building the most competitive shopping platform in the country,” said Benjamin de Fouchier, managing director of Daraz Bangladesh told to the Daily Star


Alibaba Acquires Daraz Group

Rocket Internet said in a statement that Alibaba has acquired the entire Daraz business. The parties have not disclosed details of the deal.


Daraz's Premium Shipping Service Daraz Express Expands

Daraz calls Daraz Express ‘the premium shipping service’. It guarantees 24 hours delivery within Dhaka and 48 hours delivery outside Dhaka. However, the service does not cover all across the country just yet.


Daraz Turns Five, Daraz's Unique Opportunity And Challenge

Over the past years, Daraz has managed to build a user base and it continues to grow. Today, the company is the most dominant player in Dahak’s ecommerce space.


The Rise Of Urban Jobs And Strategies For Human Capital Development In A Changing World Of Work With Md. Safiul Bari Saadi, Talent Acquisition Executive, Daraz Bangladesh

Md. Safiul Bari Saadi, a Talent Acquisition Executive at Daraz Bangladesh, sits at the center of this transformation in the job market.Every month, Mr. Safiul oversees an operation where they hire and train hundreds of people in areas like warehousing, sorting center, and Daraz Express – logistics operation of Daraz.

 In this interview with Mr. Safiul, brought to you by Kormo, he shared his strategies and principles for hiring the right people, creating a culture of learning, human capital development at Daraz,


Daraz Plans Strategic Investment In Logistics and Infrastructure

The report, while remaining rhetorical in nature, offers an insider view into Daraz’s priorities in Bangladesh in the coming months and years. The company eyes major expansion. To back its expansion, it aims to build logistical infrastructure and local hubs across the country.


An inner look at e-commerce giant: Daraz | The Daily Star 

It is clear that Daraz is here to stay. Their office centres around a huge room with benches where all their employees sit together on their laptops and work side by side. It is very interactive and emits a Silicon Valley vibe. Coupled with an excellent customer service section and a foosball lounge where the employees can let off some steam, Daraz seems to have captured the perfect work environment


Daraz continues growth amid pandemic | The Daily Star

On November 11 last year, online shopping platform Daraz sold Tk 8.5 crore-worth products within the first 45 minutes of a 24-hour shopping event stemming from a marketing idea on encouraging people to spend money on themselves.


Local SMEs to go global using Daraz’s exports | TBS


Watch.

Daraz CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen in an Interview on Bloomberg Markets Asia | Youtube 

Tithi Chowdhury is an undergraduate student majoring in Botany at the University of Dhaka. She is a Trainee Analyst at Future Startup and looks after our Collective Knowledge initiative where she prepares interviews and writes articles on interesting topics. She is a voracious reader and loves listening to podcasts in her spare time.

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