On the Power of Internet and Transformation of Consumer Tech Space in Bangladesh with Maliha M Quadir, Founder and MD, Shohoz

Welcome to our new series Possible If You Want, powered by Grameenphone, exploring the power and possibilities of the internet. Over the perhaps last 20 years, the internet has reshaped our world. Today, we communicate and connect differently. We shop and consume differently. We build companies and solve problems differently. The internet has penetrated and transformed almost every area of our lives.

This series is about our innate possibilities, the power of the internet, and what happens when we bridge the two. We’ll be interviewing some of the country’s successful technology entrepreneurs and learn about their vision, their take on the power and possibilities of the internet, how they personally and their businesses use technology to tackle some of the pressing problems of our society and much more.

All the stories will be exclusively published in Future Startup and you can find them here.

Shohoz Founder and CEO Maliha M Quadir on how the internet has transformed our lives and work and enabled individuals to access resources and pursue possibilities and opportunities that were hard to access before, her first experience with the power of internet, her work at Shohoz, how Shohoz has evolved into an critical consumer tech company in Bangladesh, Shohoz’s operations in transportation, healthcare, grocery, ticketing, and food delivery and how these essential services have empowered consumers amid the pandemic and much more.

The interview

In this excellent interview with Ms. Maliha, talks about a wide range of topics: the power and possibilities of the internet, how the internet has transformed the world of work and life, has made entrepreneurship easier and accessible to a ever growing number of people, and is transforming the future of almost every industry in Bangladesh, offers us a peek behind the scenes of Shohoz, discusses how she works and much more.

About Shohoz 

2014: Shohoz launched formally as an online ticketing platform

• Toward the end of 2013, Shohoz founder Maliha M Quadir left her job at a Singapore based technology company, raised a few million in seed investment and moved back to Bangladesh. Shohoz was born in 2014..
• Shohoz started with only bus tickets.  In the first year, it only had four operators on its platform. The company eventually added other ticketing options such as launch, event, movies, etc. 

2018: Enters ride-hailing

• In March 2018, Shohoz formally entered the ride-hailing market in Dhaka. While many people doubted Shohoz’s move into the ride-hailing space, we explained in an analysis after Shohoz’s ride-hailing move that it was a right move for the company and essential to saving its ticketing business.

2018: Biggest funding round by a Bangladeshi tech startup

• In 2018, Shohoz raised US$15M in funding from a host of investors including Golden Gate Ventures of Singapore – the largest funding round in any Bangladeshi early stage company so far.

• In 2019, Shohoz announced that it has secured an undisclosed amount of funding in a round led by Sweden listed investment firm Vostok New Ventures. Partech Ventures, Heritas Venture Funds, Cypress Capital, Tekton Ventures, and participated by existing backer Golden.

Shohoz Food

• In October 2018, Shohoz entered the Food delivery business in Dhaka.

Shohoz Health

• Amid the coronavirus pandemic Shohoz launched Shohoz Health in the first quarter of 2020. 

Everything app

• Shohoz aims to build an everything app in Bangladesh. It says it wants to be ‘the super app’ of Bangladesh.

About Maliha M Quadir

Shohoz Founder and Managing Director, Maliha M Quadir, has a fascinating story. She was born and raised in Dhaka. Studied in the US: Smith College and then Harvard University. Worked at some of the top institutions: Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, Nokia, and Vistaprint, spanning multiple countries, US, Singapore, India, and Indonesia.

Toward the end of 2013, she decided that she is finally ready to pursue her lifelong dream - starting her own tech company in Bangladesh. She left her job, raised a few million in seed investment and moved back to Bangladesh. And Shohoz was born in 2014. 

Learn more: 

1. Profile of Maliha M Quadir here.
2. Shohoz Website here.
3. Future Startup Shohoz profile page here. 
4. Possible If You Want Series Interviews here.