Bykea raises $5.7 million in Series A funding

Bykea, a technology platform for on-demand transport and related services, a accelerated startup at National Incubation Center Karachi, announced today at the National Incubation Center, Karachi, that it has completed a $5.7 million Series A round of financing from Pakistan’s first VC fund Sarmayacar and institutional investors from South East Asia and the Middle East. The financing will be used to fund Bykea’s expansion in ride sharing, express delivery and conversion of cash for digital use, for both consumers and businesses across Pakistan.

Bykea enables a crowdsourced network of motorbike owners to transport people and parcels allowing them to supplement their incomes while delivering cost effective logistics solutions. Its cash on delivery technology enables real time transactions in a nascent payments market thereby pioneering the development of e-commerce in Pakistan. Over two hundred thousand motorbike owners have installed the partner app to connect with over two million users in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore. Bykea does one million bookings a month. Although available in English, the platform is mostly deployed in Urdu with voice notes to facilitate the use of technology by the broadest audience in their local language.

Bykea raises $5.7 million in Series A funding

Bykea Team: Rafiq Malik, Abdul Mannan, Jonas Eichhorst, Muneeb Maayr, Rabeel Warraich, Ishaq Kothawala, Haider Ali. Left to Right: Rafiq Malik, Abdul Mannan, Jonas Eichhorst, Muneeb Maayr, Rabeel Warraich, Ishaq Kothawala and Haider Ali Hilaly.

Muneeb Maayr, CEO of Bykea said:

“We’re aiming to solve technology adoption and economic activity for the 200 million people in Pakistan by allowing users to connect with one another via simple steps in Urdu or voice chat. We are also working with leading telecommunication providers to enable feature phones, or not-so-smart phones, to connect to our driver partner network of part timers.”The additional investment will pave the way for deeper penetration into the masses enabling Pakistanis at large to use technology to better facilitate personal and business activity in the cities.”

Bykea was seed funded by a group of angel investors in a round led by Ithaca Capital who have made several pioneering venture capital investments in Pakistan. It was founded by veterans from eCommerce and logistics, (Muneeb Maayr, Co-Founder at Daraz.pk, now an Alibaba company and Director Operations for 7 years at SNL Pakistan, now S&P Global, one of the largest IT exporters from Pakistan), Abdul Mannan (formerly at Rocket Internet’s Kaymu.pk), Ishaq Kothawala (Head Actuary at Pak-Qatar, a leading insurance company) and Rafiq Malik (formerly COO at TNT Logistics Pakistan a subsidiary of one of the largest logistics networks in the world).

“We are pleased to join Bykea on its journey of building affordable technology solutions that will create income generating opportunities for tens of thousands in Pakistan, while addressing rampant challenges in the transportation, logistics and payments sectors of the country.

This transaction also ushers a new era of venture capital investment into Pakistan by bringing together varied and complementary value propositions of institutional VCs from different parts of the world to back one of Pakistan’s most promising startups” said Rabeel Warraich, Managing Partner at Sarmayacar.

“After regularly visiting Pakistan over the past 3 years, the tremendous potential of the country is obvious to me. Bykea and its team are in a great position to play a leading role not only in advancing the nascent startup sector but can also become a local champion within the overall economy, similar to GoJek’s tremendous success in Indonesia” said Singapore-based Jonas Eichhorst, who will join the company’s board as part of the transaction.

aider Ali Hilaly, Managing Director at Ithaca Capital. said:

“We are excited for the next round of Bykea’s development and welcome the institutional investment that brings relevant expertise from other developing markets to the Company. We have worked with Muneeb and his team to develop Bykea by seeding this project despite the obstacles involved in raising substantial further capital for venture stage companies in Pakistan. We are also pleased to have been the main sponsor of one of the largest Series A investments in Pakistan’s history,” 

Bykea’s funding announcement follows a series of customer launches, including a collaboration with the country’s leading telecom network Jazz on connecting customers with drivers using a simple dial in mobile number 0307-1234567. In addition, the Company has received grants from USAID’s Small & Medium Enterprises Development Authority to help create jobs in the hospitality sector and the Mahvash & Jehangir Siddiqui Foundation for providing short term lending to enable motorbike owner operators with income opportunities. The announcement was made at the National Incubation Center Karachi, as Bykea is one of the Karachi chapter’s first members.

Going forward, Bykea intends to use funds from the new raise to continue to focus on increasing its driver network and provide new members income-generating opportunities in the transport, delivery and ecommerce space. The Company is also actively looking to fill roles within the organization as it expands its execution capabilities.

Users can learn more and download the app by visiting https://www.bykea.com

About Bykea
Bykea Technologies is a software startup platform where people connect with a network of motorbikes for transportation, deliveries and payment services. It’s a marketplace of services help move people, parcels and payments efficiently, saving time and money. The business launched in Karachi, Pakistan in December 2016 and now operates in four cities in Pakistan serving millions of users. It is one of the largest employment creators in the country offering part-time job opportunities to anyone with a smartphone and motorbike with over two hundred thousand driver partners having accessed its platform services network clocking millions of kilometers each month.

About Sarmayacar
Sarmayacar is a Pakistan-focused early stage investment firm that manages the largest venture capital fund dedicated to investing in promising Pakistani startups.

https://www.sarmayacar.com

About Ithaca Capital
Ithaca Capital is a privately held investment company and a manager of third party private equity funds. Ithaca Capital has been investing and operating in Pakistan for over 21 years and has deployed over $400 million in 15 companies across a number of industries including technology, transportation, power, retail and fast moving consumer goods.