A total of three startups including MedEasy and Markopolo received investments alongside Shuttle landing follow-on investment

Three Bangladesh-based startups received investments from Accelerating Asia at the Singapore-based international accelerator venture capital’s (VC) sixth cohort on Thursday.

Targeting pre-series A startups in the region, the VC announced its latest round of investments into 13 startups including two companies from Bangladesh — MedEasy and Markopolo — and another Bangladeshi transportation startup Shuttle, which received follow-on investment.

“Accelerating Asia is one of the most active and important international investors in early-stage ventures in the local ecosystem. We are happy to see continued investment and commitment by the team into both their existing portfolio and new companies,” CEO of Bangladesh Angel Network (BAN) Nirjhor Rahman told Dhaka Tribune.

With the investment into the new firms, which are part of the VC firm’s sixth cohort, Accelerating Asia now has 52 startups in its portfolio that have raised a combined total of over $42 million, with the latest made across eight verticals including Property Technology (PropTech), marketplace, fintech, logistics, services, e-commerce and health tech.

“Our VC accelerator model ensures high potential founders have greater access to needed capital financing, mentoring, and skill sets to enhance their growth trajectory and quickly become leaders in their respective verticals while also lowering the overall risk for our investors at an early stage,” Accelerating Asia General Partner Amra Naidoo told media. According to the VC, the companies clock an average gross merchandise value of $100,000 every month and an average monthly recurring revenue of over $25,000.

MedEasy, a local online pharmacy and digital health platform that provides video consultations of doctors and home delivery of medicines reported a 16 times revenue growth in 2021 and 22 times revenue growth in the Q1 of 2022 compared to the Q1 of 2021. MedEasy has 75,000 users and more than 100 doctors registered on the platform and claims to have served more than 20,000 medicine orders.

Markopolo.ai, another recipient, which is a MarTech SaaS platform built for the cookieless era that automates campaign creation and management in social and search Ad platforms, was the winner of She Loves Tech Bangladesh and has reportedly grown monthly revenue by 30% in month one of the Accelerating Asia program.

Shuttle received a follow-on funding from Accelerating Asia as it previously raised $750,000 in its seed round which was led by Accelerating Asia. The mass-transit startup started its operations by making daily commutes affordable and convenient for women and has recently focused on expanding its business by moving to a B2B model as well. CEO and Co-founder of Shuttle Reyasat Chowdhury told Dhaka Tribune: “Shuttle has been growing 25% every month since the lockdown was lifted in August last year.”

“So, when you look at the history of all three companies, they all raised money from local investors including angels, and then investors like Accelerating Asia have come in. When that happens, obviously, there’s appreciation in the value of the company as it’s a big validator to look for investors- that when they invest in early-stage ventures, they can raise follow-on capital, including from international investors,” BAN CEO Nirjhor Rahman pointed out.

Industry insiders said that as Dhaka’s startup ecosystem grows, more companies will go to these international programs for access to early capital, know-how, and network with only a handful of local investors.

On top of that, programs like Accelerating Asia have helped startups in Dhaka to attract greater attention from regional investors with Bangladeshi startups having a regular presence. Last year’s cohort saw three Bangladeshi startups receive investment from the program, and the previous cohort saw four.

Source: This news is originally published by dhakatribune

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