Startup Bangladesh invests in Pickaboo
Startup Bangladesh Limited, the flagship venture capital company of the ICT Division, has invested in Pickaboo, an omni channel platform in Bangladesh specialized in mobile, gadget and electronics. This platform enables customers to shop online or offline and empowers traditional retailers to set up multi branded smart gadget shops under Pickaboo.
An agreement was signed recently between the organisations in Dhaka to invest Tk 3 crore in Pickaboos’ Pre series A round of $1.5 million where local and international investors are participating.
The agreement was signed in the presence of NM Zeaul Alam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Startup Bangladesh and senior secretary of the ICT division. Ranajit Kumar, Executive Director, Bangladesh Computer Council and Board Member of Startup Bangladesh, Managing Director of Startup Bangladesh Sami Ahmed, Head of Portfolio Investment Hasan A. Arif and co-founder and CEO of Pickaboo Morin Talukder and co-founder and chairman, Md. Aminur Rashid and other stakeholders were present on the occasion.
Since 2016, Pickaboo has been working on building a mobile and gadget hub in the county focusing on mobile, gadgets and electronics with the promise of offering best service to the customers by ensuring fastest delivery and quality products. Pickaboo is considered to be the most trusted platform in the country. Pickaboo delivers products across the country and also offers 3 hours express delivery in Dhaka city. Pickaboo has over 1 million mobile app installs and has delivered few hundred thousand products till date. Besides, Pickaboo is operating in 18 offline stores across the country and building the smartest smartphone and gadget hub in offline. Pickaboo works closely with all major mobile and electronics brands in the country starting from Samsung, Realme, OPPO, Xiaomi, Vivo, OnePlus and 200+ more
Startup Bangladesh is the flagship venture capital company of ICT Division. Under the visionary guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Startup Bangladesh - the first and only venture capital fund sponsored by the government of the people’s republic of Bangladesh started its journey on March 2020 with an allocated capital of Tk 500 crore. In this effort to enable the nation to innovate faster, Startup Bangladesh has decided to invest Tk 3 crore BDT in Pickaboo after recognizing the potential of this omni channel platform.
Startups are playing a crucial role in addressing the market needs, which is having a deep impact in the socioeconomic development of the country. The tech-solutions provided by startups could support the nation’s achieving Smart Bangladesh Vision. Government has established Startup Bangladesh Venture Capital Company to support these innovative Startups. I hope Pickaboo will make a remarkable impact in the industry with this investment,” said ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, on the occasion.
“Pickaboo is a very well-known brand in the e-commerce industry and doing very well. We hope the investment from Startup Bangladesh on Pickaboo will help it to reach out to more customers. I hope as a Startup they will play an active role in implementation of Smart Bangladesh. The ICT Division is working diligently in changing policies that assist the emerging and growing startups in many aspects.” mentioned NM Zeaul Alam.
“Startup Bangladesh is working diligently to support homegrown startups to grow and to build a vibrant ecosystem to attract more foreign Investment. We believe that Pickaboo is doing well in addressing the needs of customers in the Bangladesh Market. With the right strategy and focus, Pickaboo should be able to make remarkable impact in the lives of the people of Bangladesh,” said Sami Ahmed.
Morin Hossain Talukder said, "We are working continuously to make Pickaboo better for our users by providing faster delivery and authentic products. The Investment from Startup Bangladesh Limited will empower us to expand business in both online and offline. We will be focusing on new product inclusion, offering faster delivery across the country and automation to ensure a smoother shopping experience.”
Startup Bangladesh in its effort to build a vibrant startup ecosystem that nurtures digitalization, has been investing in most promising and impactful startups in Bangladesh and has continued that tradition by investing in Pickaboo.