Pathao: An Emerging Motorcycle-Ride Service in

Bangladesh
Case

Author: Jashim Uddin Ahmed, Wahida Shahan Tinne & Asma Ahmed
Online Pub Date: January 02, 2019 | Original Pub. Date: 2019
Subject: Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises, Marketing Strategy, E-Commerce
Level: Intermediate | Type: Indirect case | Length: 5390 words
Copyright: © Jashim Uddin Ahmed, Wahida Shahan Tinne, and Asma Ahmed 2019
Organization: Pathao | Organization size: Medium
Region: Southern Asia | State:
Industry: Land transport and transport via pipelines| Postal and courier activities
Originally Published in:
Publisher: SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526462718 | Online ISBN: 9781526462718
SAGE SAGE Business Cases
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© Jashim Uddin Ahmed, Wahida Shahan Tinne, and Asma Ahmed 2019

This case was prepared for inclusion in SAGE Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion
or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein
shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use
only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial
purposes. 2019 SAGE Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

This content may only be distributed for use within CQ PRESS.

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526462718

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Abstract
Pathao, which roughly translates to “send,” became the first app-based online motorcycle-ride
service in Bangladesh upon its launch in 2015. It is the only company in Bangladesh that pro-
vides both logistics and transportation services to Dhaka city dwellers. Early adopters of the ride
service are students and people taking rides to and from offices. Although Pathao faces fierce
competition from international players in the market, including Uber, the company has an edge
over its competitors because its two-wheel rides can fight the hectic traffic jams of Bangladeshi
cities better than those of its four-wheeled competitors. Pathao has built on this advantage by
taking the time to properly establish its operational activities and build a workforce of vetted em-
ployees. With its ability to ensure speedy ride services and its courteous and reliable customer
service, Pathao has achieved a good response in its early stage. As a startup, Pathao is a con-
stantly evolving company that believes in embracing dynamism. The company hopes to expand
its network to include the whole of Bangladesh and to expand its offerings into other verticals.
This case study focuses on how Pathao should address the challenges of being a startup in the
aggressive but promising app-based motor rides industry in Bangladesh. It highlights operations
and marketing strategies and the significance of having a sound customer service and retention
strategy for long-term success during growth.

Case

Learning Objectives
Through completing this case study, students should obtain a stronger understanding of:

• the relationship between early business practices and the medium- and long-term challenges and
opportunities faced by companies;
• the challenges startup companies confront in highly competitive emerging industries; and
• the importance of having a clear customer service and retention strategy for the long-term success
of new businesses.

Introduction
Bangladesh is a growing country with increasing transportation needs. Pathao is a startup company trying to
serve these needs with its logistical and ride services. With a high population growth rate of 1% and a trend
of urban growth at about 3.19% per annum, Bangladeshi cities are bustling places. Among those, Dhaka is
the most compactly inhabited city, with a population of 17.598 million. Pathao offers its delivery and personal
transportation services in Dhaka, as well as other urban centers, including Chittagong with its 4.539 million
residents (2015 estimate; The World Fact Book, 2017). Pathao knew that these cities, with their enormous
traffic loads, required special services to meet their transport needs. In Dhaka people spend an average of
2.35 hours in traffic and consequently lose 1.30 hours every day due to traffic congestion. This transportation
problem also translates into an economic problem, with 1.30 hours of resources lost every day.

To meet the needs of Bangladeshi citizens, Pathao launched a unique business offering in a few major cities:
app-based logistics and transportation services fulfilled by motorcycles. Pathao’s founders aimed to offer fast,
easy, and secure delivery services when they launched the company in 2015. A year later, Pathao added
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on-demand motorcycle rides to move people as well. The founders took the time to properly establish op-
erational activities and ensure customers receive courteous and reliable service with their thoroughly vetted
employees. With a good response rate thus far, the startup remains focused on dynamism and evolution. As
part of that focus, the management team is looking at how to expand their services across the country. To do
that, management hopes Pathao’s service model and operations will secure Pathao’s place in Bangladesh’s
fiercely competitive ride market. They are also hopeful that the company’s marketing activities and customer
service and retention strategies will support the long-term success of the company as it grows and moves into
other verticals.

The Problem in Bangladesh: Transportation Crunch

When Pathao launched in 2015, it identified many problems its services could address; a primary issue being
the need for expedient logistics and travel in cities with major traffic congestion. Dhaka is a center of business
and there is a growing need for timely deliveries and transportation amongst its growing population. With e-
commerce poised as the future of the economy, logistics and efficient travel are extremely important in the
crammed city.

Many factors combine to create the traffic problem in Bangladesh. For instance, poor infrastructure and policy
of transportation systems results in chaos on the roads. Narrow roads are filled with vehicles driven by peo-
ple with improper training and heighten frustrations. This volatile and congested situation is made worse by
vehicles, including buses, parking in haphazard ways, blocking normal traffic movement.

Among all infrastructure systems, a well-tied transport and communication system is essential for the im-
provement of a developing country. Smartphones are a logical way to meet such needs. Among the legal
120.728 million mobile phone users, more than 110.00 million are smartphone users in Bangladesh. It is es-
timated that around 60% of the population will use smartphones by 2020 (Dhaka Tribune, 2017). According
to the Far Eastern Economic Review, Dhaka will be home to 25 million people by the year 2025. Although a
modern city should have 25% of its total area devoted to road use, Dhaka has only 7 percent (Khan, 2017).
The main transportation mediums that are used in Dhaka city are:

1. public bus;
2. rickshaw;
3. taxi;
4. private car; and
5. motorcycle.

In Dhaka city, rickshaws’ share of trips and road space is 38% and 40%, respectively. Private cars’ share of
trips and road space is 25% and 39%, respectively (Jain, 2011).

Dhaka has a huge demand for taxis based on population and businesses and inadequate transportation ser-
vices. Travelers struggle to use taxi services in Bangladesh because it takes a long time to get one and ne-
gotiate the fare. Travelers also struggle to use other ride services, including car rental companies. Although
many people can afford rental cars and taxis, very few are available when they need them. In addition, many
people are still using car rental companies that are difficult to use, and do not verify drivers/passengers or
offer price controls. They usually do not know when they will get their cars, who is going to drive them and
what will be the fare. In the absence of a smooth taxi service, many people opted for buying cars while others
depend on small vehicles like compressed natural gas (CNG)-run auto rickshaws and other human haulers,
which are unsafe, chaotic, and poorly managed.

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The Growth of Pathao: A Startup Finds Initial Success

Pathao started as an on-demand delivery service with a team of two, Elius and his co-founder Shifat Adnan,
and three delivery agents in July 2015. At the time, Elius and Shifat worked with the now-defunct HackHouse,
a business building platform launched by Fahim Saleh in 2015 (Pathao, 2017). It was one of the several ex-
perimental projects from HackHouse. Working at HackHouse gave the Pathao founders a foundation in the
field of technology that allowed them to come up with the operational concept of Pathao.

Building on their expertise, the founders essentially followed the Go-Jek model to set up their logistics service
in Bangladesh. Go-Jek was an e-commerce delivery company in Jakarta, Indonesia with a small fleet of
motorcycle drivers. Go-Jek also offered motorcycle rides for personal transportation. Customers ordered in
advance through a call center. After six years of growth, Go-Jek reached the milestone of 200,000 drivers,
each of which wears branded uniforms and helmets. These drivers were across some 25 cities in Indonesia
(TechCrunch, 2017).

Elius and Fahim used this model and launched Pathao with the tagline, “Delivery made easy” in 2015. They
aimed to revolutionize the way things move in Bangladesh by ensuring fast, secure, and easy delivery ser-
vices for e-commerce vendors or individual clients. Since its launch, Pathao has grown quickly, using mo-
torcycle drivers (called “riders”) to make thousands of trips a day. These trips have all been coordinated via
Pathao’s website or its mobile application, which is available in both the Google Play and Apple App stores. In
mid-2016, Pathao’s executives decided to introduce on-demand motorcycle rides for personal transportation.
With this new offering, Pathao became the only company in Bangladesh simultaneously supporting logistics
and transportation services for city dwellers. In 2018, the company also launched a food ordering and delivery
service called Pathao Food.

To support its offerings, Pathao employed a fleet of logistics and personal transportation drivers and support
staff, with approximately 60 drivers in Dhaka alone in 2017. This fleet allowed the company to handle 500
deliveries a day in Dhaka and signaled an impressive 40% month over month growth. Unlike other transporta-
tion providers such as Uber that crowd-source their drivers, Pathao’s “riders” were all employees of Pathao.
They all received a basic salary as well as commission based on performance. Unlike Go-Jek, Pathao em-
ployed drivers that did not wear branded uniforms. Most Pathao drivers also used their own smartphones to
correspond with customers, because, Pathao wanted to keep things simple. As part of keeping things sim-
ple, riders can receive cash or electronic payments for logistics and transportations services. All electronic
transactions are carried out using Internet banking services through Rocket Internet Banking, Daraz, Bkash,
or other servers and the Pathao e-wallet (Pathao, 2017).

Culture has always been an important part Pathao’s human resources and company policies. Throughout its
startup phase, the company has actively hired new employees and consistently sought out high achievers
who will go above and beyond their job descriptions to fulfill the long-term vision of the company. It wants to
work with an A-class team who are entrepreneurial, open to using the latest technology, and want to super-
charge their career out of the regular 9 to 5.

In 2017, the Pathao company culture, vision, and associated policies were supported by about 80 employees
in three offices across Bangladesh. These employees included approximately 40 members of executive and
development teams (SD Asia, 2016). With the backing of international venture capital, Pathao is currently
looking to expand its team with industry leading professionals and hopes to expand its markets to include
other cities in Bangladesh. With a good response rate thus far, the startup remains focused on dynamism and
evolution. The company remains guided by the vision of Pathao’s founders; they aim to scale across different
verticals by using the same base infrastructure to serve different markets. As part of this vision, Pathao now
provides delivery and cash-collection support to businesses through Pathao fulfillment and transportation ser-
vice through Pathao Rides. In addition to facilitating commerce and personal transportation, Pathao also aims
to create a new profession in Bangladesh: entrepreneurs powered by technology who can work as hard or as
little as they want, but still be accountable and earn more than their average peer.
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The team believes this may be the right time for the company to expand again. It has established service
models, operations, customer service, human resources, and marketing in ways that help them address the
challenges of being a start up in the aggressive motor rides industry in Bangladesh. They hope that this mix
will work together in a business strategy that secures Pathao’s long-term success.

Pathao’s Logistics Services: Delivering Goods

As a logistics service provider, Pathao aims to support the growth and development of commerce and specif-
ically online shopping in Bangladesh. E-commerce has seen a big boom in recent years in Bangladesh.
According to the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (eCAB), the sector has experienced tremendous
growth since 2009, with the number of e-commerce websites increasing five-fold from a mere 100 in 2012
to over 500 in 2015. With the increase in Internet penetration, government support, and relaxed regulation,
e-commerce is slated to grow even faster in the coming years and will be a major proponent of economic
growth in the country. Logistics has been a problem for e-commerce ever since the birth of the sector. All the
countries in which e-commerce has experienced tremendous growth had to beef up their infrastructure and
produce quality logistic service providers. The whole point of e-commerce is convenience.

E-commerce is the future of the economy, and as a quickly growing technology startup, Pathao hopes to en-
sure the company’s long-term success by playing an integral part in its advancement in Bangladesh. With
its delivery service platform, Pathao has added a new dimension to e-commerce and logistics in Dhaka city.
Pathao’s logistics service, available via an app, promises same day delivery of your packages within your city
and also offers tracking options and ensures verified delivery people for security. Sending things are difficult
in Dhaka. Pathao has focused largely on a business to consumer market in this space and largely delivers
smaller items like flowers and food instead of going for large-scale e-commerce deliveries.

To use Pathao’s logistics services, customers can place a request through the Pathao website or app, and
a properly vetted motorcycle messenger picks up their package shortly thereafter. It usually delivers to the
destination within 90 minutes. When a person places a request, it goes straight to the nearest courier’s smart-
phone. Customers can track their packages in real time through GPS as it makes its way to its destination.
The packages can be up to 2kg in mass and up to 30 linear inches in dimension, meaning that the sum of its
length, width and height cannot exceed 30 inches. The company also offers an “on-demand” service available
all days of the week between 10 am and 10 pm (The Daily Star, 2015).

In addition to these services, Pathao also provides logistical services to the online shopping website, Bikroy,
a major client of theirs. Initially, Bikroy had its own logistics support, but now relies on the support of Pathao.
Pathao’s fleet of motorcycle drivers and motorcycle messengers bring Bikroy parcels to clients in Dhaka
and beyond. The service thrives on the back of the growing demand for reliable e-commerce deliveries in
Bangladesh. Pathao works with Daraz and Rocket Internet banking, among others to offer banking services
to handle Pathao’s payment collection and processes (Pathao, 2017).

Personal Transportation Services: Two-Wheeled Rides

Pathao launched personal transportation services to complement its logistics business in 2016 (see Figure
1). Early adopters of the service have been students, and customers taking rides to and from their offices.
These customers use Pathao’s mobile app downloaded from the Google Play Store for Android phones or
the Apple App Store for iOS phones. Customers log in with their name and number and then see a map that
automatically detects their pickup location. The customer simply needs to enter their desired destination. At
this point the pickup location will be shown in black and the destination point will be in red. The cost of the
trip will then be shown on the screen and if the customer wants to book a ride he or she selects the “Find
Your Rider” option to secure a driver. After a few seconds a list of “riders” appears on the screen with each

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driver’s contact details. The customer simply chooses their rider, calls him or her, and within a few minutes
their driver will arrive at the pickup point. For safety issues, the customer receives the photo, phone number,
and name of the rider. After arriving at their desired destination, the customer pays the required amount to
the rider (Pathao, 2017). The advantage of Pathao is their mode of transport: motorcycles. Riders can swiftly
skim through the traffic and reach destinations in the fastest way possible to save both time and money.

Figure 1: Operation Process of Pathao Rides

Pathao Food: Logistics and Customer Service Combined

In January 2018, Pathao launched a new service: “Pathao Food.” Initially available in only two parts of Dhaka,
Pathao plans to roll out service across the city within a month. Food lovers can use the Pathao app to order
their favorite food from any restaurant within their zone and without the hassle of going outside, travelling
through congested roads, or waiting in line. Users simply select their preferred local restaurants and hotels
within 2.5km of their location and choose food items from the detailed menu on the app. Initially some 300
restaurants in Gulshan and Banani have been synched with the app. Users can search, locate, and place
orders from restaurants near them with a tap of the app and the nearest Pathao Food Courier will place their
order and deliver their food to their door (The Independent, 2018). This new service offers more to Pathao
customers and employees. The company not only fulfills the culinary cravings of food loving customers, it
also offers new ways for its riders to earn more on the platform. The company is positioning Pathao Food as
a local logistics and customer service solution, for local people and local businesses, made in Bangladesh.

Pricing and Promotional Strategies

Pathao has a unique pricing strategy and it has a pricing model that always ensures three things: (a) they can
recuperate the investment in the motorcycles and the platform; (b) they can pay fixed salaries to the manage-
ment, office staff, and drivers and variable payment linked to the number of rides and quality of service; (c)
their prices seem more attractive than traditional alternatives like Uber. The pricing is BDT 1 per 2 minutes,
BDT 10 per kilometer, and BDT 20 take fixed base fare (Pathao, 2017). Pathao is usually 20–30% cheaper
than three-wheeler CNG-fueled rivals if they agree to follow the meter and usually half the three-wheeler’s
fare (run by CNG) if they bargain a fixed rate or charge an extra take on top of the meter fare.

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Pathao’s success can partially be attributed to this pricing strategy and the advantages it gives the startup
in the competitive app-based logistics and transportation market. The company’s marketing and promotional
strategies have further supported Pathao’s success. Core promotional strategies have included a solid and
active social media presence. Pathao is really active on Facebook, retaining 591,262 followers in 2017. In
order to motivate customers, it regularly offers limited time promotional codes on its Facebook page. Promo-
tion codes enable customers to claim discounts on their rides during a specified period and are based on the
location or the usage of customers. Each discount is for a specific service only. After giving a promotional
ride to a passenger, the rider accepts only the amount of cash that remains after the discount is deducted.
The difference is reimbursed to the rider through the Pathao e-wallet through Rocket Internet banking (Dutch
Bangla Bank) or Bkash (Pathao, 2017).

Pathao has also mixed employee recruitment and retention and customer service to successfully market the
company and support its growth. For example in December 2016, Pathao arranged a campaign on the North
South University (a leading private university in Bangladesh) premises. During this campaign, team members
wore red Pathao shirts and demonstrated the app to introduce the company services to people and offer them
free rides home. This campaign converted 200 students into Pathao customers. In another promotional en-
deavor, Pathao hosted an event named “Ashlei BDT500” at the Samarai Convention Centre in June of 2017.
In this Riders Recruitment Fair, whoever registered their motorcycle into Pathao’s fleet received BDT 500 on
the spot as well as opportunity to win an attractive helmet (Pathao, 2017).

Customer Service

Pathao’s courteous and reliable customer service has supported the startup’s growth thus far. The company
has developed a reputation for employing well-educated and well-mannered employees that care about both
customers and the company. With these reliable and professional employees, the company focuses on serv-
ing and retaining customers. For example, riders are all employees of Pathao and the company puts each em-
ployee through a thorough background check. As part of this process, each employee has to submit nation-
al identity documents, phone numbers, and motorcycle registration numbers. As part of their brand, Pathao
cares for the safety and security of both its employees and its customers. In addition, Pathao is known for
providing excellent support services to its customers. For example, if a customer cancels a few rides within
a short period of time on the app, a call center employee will call him or her to discuss and understand the
customer’s problem and help by booking rides for that person manually.

Pathao’s Market in Bangladesh

To assess Pathao’s growth potential and their strategies for long-term success, the Pathao team needs to
consider their competitors and how they should handle the challenges in the competitive app-based logistics
and transportation market in Bangladesh. There are several alternatives, including taxi services, CNG auto
rickshaws, public buses, and upcoming metro rails. Sometimes customers compare Pathao with CNG auto
rickshaws in terms of space and price. In those perspectives, Pathao is bit costly. But convenience and price
beat the cultural norm, at least for some. In 2017 Pathao was the most popular app-based motorcycle service
with logistics and transportations offerings. The Pathao team needs to assess how to retain that position.

Taxi Services

Taxis were first introduced in Bangladesh in 1997. Initially, 11,260 cabs hit the streets in Dhaka and Chit-

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tagong, but most of those went bust within a couple of years (The Daily Star, 2016a). In 2017, over 500
taxicabs operated the Dhaka streets, according to Transport and Passenger Welfare Associations (The Daily
Star, 2016a). A recent addition is an app-based taxi and motorcycle service, making this an increasingly pop-
ular option in this sector.

Uber

The U.S.-based multinational online transport network company, Uber, offers another transportation option in
Bangladesh. Uber offers app-based taxi services that allow customers with smartphones to place a trip re-
quest in about 450 cities in 74 countries (The Daily Star, 2016b). Uber launched its service in 2009 and soon
gained immense popularity and has become the world’s largest on-demand taxi service. The mobile app-
based transportation networking company serves commuters like a middleman to meet their requirements of
hiring a car or taxi. It was formally launched in Bangladesh in November 2016 in partnership with the coun-
try’s largest telecom company, Grameenphone (The Daily Star, 2016b). The government is yet to establish
a proper regulatory framework for Uber even though the global ride-sharing service operates. Uber does not
own any cars. Independent drivers use their own cars to transport passengers. Any car owner can become a
driver after getting registered with valid documents, national identity card, and a photograph.

An increasing number of city dwellers have started using Uber’s service in Bangladesh. Uber sources claimed
they were charging about 40% less than the existing market price (The Daily Star, 2016b). The service offers
safe, reliable, and affordable rides at the push of a button while opening up flexible economic opportunities for
driver-partners, according to a press release by Uber. Following the lead of Pathao, Uber announced plans to
introduce its motorcycle service called UberMoto in Dhaka (The Bangladesh Post, 2017). Uber first launched
its UberMoto service in Thailand in February 2016. It said that the new service was aimed at cities in emerg-
ing markets where traffic congestion is particularly severe. In neighboring India, UberMoto launched in six
cities and has received a good response.

CHALO Technologies Ltd.

CHALO is a mobile app-based on-demand premium car service in Dhaka with an electronic payment system
and verified passengers and drivers. CHALO Technologies Ltd (Bangladesh) was founded by investments
from Desh Ventures INC. (United States), which was founded by the same founders as CHALO with investors
from the United States and Taiwan. Starting in 2015, CHALO partnered with Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Inter-
nationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), City Bank and Eastern Bank Limited (both are private banks) to provide
corporate car services (The Daily Star, 2016a). More banks and corporations are on the pipeline to sign up
for the app-based on-demand private car service. CHALO has motorcycle-based transportation and delivery
service to the country named as CHALO “Bondhu” service. The company offers motorcycle-based services,
including package delivery, shopping delivery, and transportation. In December 2015, CHALO earned around
USD 1,000 net revenue from the fleet. It has over 60 fleet cars available for corporate and on-demand ser-
vices. It also has more than 25 branded corner stores all around Dhaka city.

Amarbike

Amarbike launched their services with the dream of making moving in Dhaka city more tolerable. The three
co-founders began their operations in July 2016 (The Daily Star, 2016a). This startup provides customers
with a fast, cheap, and often more time-saving means of transport, since it hires motorcycles to take you from
point A to B. Amarbike has also started to track bikes and travelers alike, an excellent initiative for impatient

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travelers and those looking for increased safety. Their technology lets the control room know when a particu-
lar motorcycle is on a trip or if it is free for the next one.

MUV

A new on-demand motorcycle-hailing service MUV was launched in April 2017 in Dhaka. The startup con-
nects motorcyclists and passengers and allows on-demand ride facility. The service, in its early beta, is only
available in Dhaka city and is owned by a company call ZP Technologies Ltd. The startup promises to offer the
best possible service at the best price and also claims that it applies a proper verification process to onboard
motorcyclists in order to ensure the safety of the riders. MUV is now a team of 11 people and has raised small
seed money from undisclosed investors (Future Startup, 2017). The company aims to get to 200 motorcycles
in the next few months.

Pathao’s Setbacks and Challenges

In assessing how to move forward to secure their long-term success in the market, Pathao’s executives knew
they needed to review the setbacks and challenges they faced thus far in their startup phase. It was not entire-
ly smooth sailing for Pathao. The company quickly learned that setting up and operating a business venture,
especially a business in logistics, can be quite chaotic. As a result, Pathao took months to properly establish
their operational activities. They also faced problems with cash handling. Instead of seeing this as a problem,
Pathao chose to look at cash-on-delivery as an opportunity.

In addition, an ongoing problem the company faces is weather—during rainy days, the business’s open-air
two-wheel ride faces challenges. Another continuing challenge is the traffic congestion blocking roads and
the experiences of motor riders being stopped and harassed during mass congestion. This experience has
become quite common and affects the quality of Pathao’s service since customers choose Pathao for safe
and quick rides.

Another issue Pathao faces is maximizing its existing market. Since Bangladesh is a conservative Muslim
country there is definitely a stigma attached to women riding on the back of a man’s motorcycle. Although
Pathao is ensuring the security and safety issues in this case, women predominantly do not feel safe and
secure with unknown male riders. This is the only reason the company has secured fewer female customers
for its personal transportation services. Thankfully for Pathao, convenience and price beat the cultural norm,
at least for some.

Recently, Pathao has also faced technology challenges. Its app service has experienced slowdowns and this
has translated into customer service issues. For example, some customers have been unable to properly
trace their motorbike or rider and waiting times for pickup have increased for others.

Finally, Pathao faces a customer service and retention strategy issue. The company lacks a sufficient cus-
tomer feedback process. Unlike competitors like UberMoto that offer complex rating scales, Pathao’s rating
scale only allows customers to offer “good” or “bad” as customer experience feedback. Customers express
dissatisfaction with this system and Pathao is looking to establish their service as the industry standard so
proper customer feedback is essential.

Pathao’s Future
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Based on their review of the company’s challenges, market, operations, service models, and marketing, ex-
ecutives decided to expand Pathao’s services to a new market. Pathao launched its popular motorbike-hail-
ing service in Sylhet city on a test-run basis in December 2017. It has started the service in Sylhet city with
around 100 bikes. Pathao is the first to launch its services outside Dhaka starting with Chittagong on October
10. The total number of vehicles is about 5,000 in three cities that offer around 10,000 rides daily. Pathao has
reportedly raised a strategic investment of USD 2 million from Go-Jek as part of its series. This is an important
event which will have significant impacts on ride-hailing space in Dhaka. Go-Jek’s investment into Pathao will
enable Pathao to take advantage of these insights and apply that in Bangladesh.

In addition to expanding into new markets, Pathao executives also decided to pursue growth and secure long-
term success by expanding its offerings in other verticals in its original market of Dhaka city. For example,
Pathao expanded its logistics services to include food delivery with Pathao Food. The company is also ex-
perimenting with building on its solid logistics operations with additional logistics services with Pathao Mart: a
shopping platform where customers can order dry food, toiletries, personal care items, frozen food, snacks,
beverages, vape (mod and flavors), gadgets and electronics, stationeries, baby food, beauty products, and so
on (Pathao, 2017). Competitors of Pathao, except for Uber, do not offer food delivery or on-demand logistics
services for goods like Pathao Mart. Uber is likely to push its UberMoto service further in the coming days.
Uber also plans to launch its Uber Eats and other services.

Finally, to respond to competitor pressures, including Uber’s launch of UberMoto in Dhaka, and ongoing
weather problems, Pathao has launched Pathao Cars, four-wheeled transportation services. As part of this
offering, customers can also access a car-sharing service.

With its sound operations, its ability to ensure speedy ride services, and its courteous and reliable customer
service, Pathao has achieved a good response in its early stage. As a startup, Pathao is a constantly evolving
company that believes in embracing dynamism and has lived up to its vision with its most recent growth de-
cisions. Will these changes allow Pathao to address the challenges associated with being a startup in the
aggressive but promising app-based motor rides industry in Bangladesh? Will these moves sufficiently build
on the company’s solid operations and customer service and retention strategies to ensure Pathao’s contin-
ued success in Bangladesh? What strategies should the company focus on for the long-term success during
growth?

Discussion Questions
1. Why did Pathao find early success in Dhaka city? What strengths and weaknesses did
the company display?
2. Evaluate Pathao’s recent changes. How do these differentiate the company’s service
model in the market?
3. To guide the company, executives are assessing the competitive dynamics of the app-
based ride service market in Bangladesh. What factors should be given the most weight?
Why?
4. Should Pathao have expanded into new markets at the same time as expanding its prod-
uct offerings into new verticals? Explain.
5. What business strategy should Pathao use to promote long-term success? What role
should Pathao’s customer service and retention strategy play?

Further Reading
Chalo Technologies Ltd. (2017). About Chalo. Retrieved from chalox.com/
Dhaka Tribune. (2017). Five alternatives to CNG-ing it. Retrieved from http://www.dhakatribune.com/maga-
Pathao: An Emerging Motorcycle-Ride Service in Bangladesh
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© Jashim Uddin Ahmed, Wahida Shahan Tinne, and Asma Ahmed 2019

zine/weekend-tribune/2017/03/03/five-alternatives-cng-ing/
Future Startup. (2016). Inside Pathao’s big plan to take on logistics and transportation industry in Dhaka. Re-
trieved from http://futurestartup.com/2016/11/06/inside-pathaos-big-plan-take-logistics-transportation-indus-
try-dhaka/
Techinasia. (2017). Meet the fast-growing Go-Jek of Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.techinasia.com/
pathao-go-jek-bangladesh

References
Dhaka Tribune (2017). Local brands dominate smartphone market. Retrieved from http://www.dhakatri-
bune.com/tribune-supplements/business-tribune/2017/07/23/local-brands-dominate-smartphone-market/
Future Startup (2017). New on-demand transportation app MUV launches in Dhaka. Retrieved from http://fu-
turestartup.com/2017/04/02/new-demand-transportation-app-muv-launches-dhaka/
Jain, A. K. (2011). Sustainable urban mobility in Southern Asia. Nairobi, Kenya: UN Habitat. Retrieved from
http://www.unhabitat.org/grhs/2013
Khan, S. R. (2017). Combating traffic congestion. The Independent. Retrieved from http://www.theindepen-
dentbd.com/home/printnews/127060
Pathao (2017). About Pathao. Retrieved from https://pathao.com/
SD Asia (2016). Pathao aims to solve two major problems in Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://sdasia.co/
2016/12/…/pathao-aims-to-solve-two-major-problems-in-bangladesh/
TechCrunch (2017). Indonesia’s Uber rival Go-Jek raises $1.2 billion led by Tencent at a $3 billion valuation.
Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/03/go-jek-tencent-1-2-billion/
The Bangladesh Post (2017). Uber plans to launch motor-bike service in Dhaka. Retrieved from
http://www.thebangladeshpost.com/national/7299/pdf
The Daily Star (2015). Send small packages with Pathao. Retrieved from http://www.thedailystar.net/shout/
send-small-packages-pathao-163660
The Daily Star (2016a). Top 5 Uber alternatives in Bangladesh. Retrieved from www.thedailystar.net › Bytes.
The Daily Star (2016b). Uber taxis hit Dhaka streets. Retrieved from http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/
uber-taxis-hit-dhaka-streets-1319011
The Independent (2018). Pathao starts Pathao Food. Retrieved from http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/
133049
The World Fact Book (2017). Bangladesh, South Asia: CIA facts file. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/li-
brary/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/bg.html
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526462718

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