AVN 51.24 Increased By ▲ 2.18 (4.44%)
BAFL 28.67 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (0.42%)
BOP 3.62 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.28%)
CNERGY 3.27 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DFML 10.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-0.56%)
DGKC 52.60 Increased By ▲ 0.62 (1.19%)
EPCL 43.90 Increased By ▲ 0.30 (0.69%)
FCCL 12.41 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.08%)
FFL 6.20 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.65%)
FLYNG 5.99 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
GGL 10.30 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.39%)
HUBC 68.66 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.23%)
HUMNL 5.84 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KAPCO 22.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.22%)
KEL 1.84 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.55%)
LOTCHEM 29.50 Increased By ▲ 0.60 (2.08%)
MLCF 28.70 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
NETSOL 81.35 Increased By ▲ 4.45 (5.79%)
OGDC 79.90 Increased By ▲ 1.50 (1.91%)
PAEL 9.76 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (0.93%)
PIBTL 4.31 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (2.38%)
PPL 61.65 Increased By ▲ 1.16 (1.92%)
PRL 14.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.35%)
SILK 1.10 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (3.77%)
SNGP 42.98 Increased By ▲ 0.48 (1.13%)
TELE 7.22 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.69%)
TPLP 13.21 Increased By ▲ 0.44 (3.45%)
TRG 99.00 Increased By ▲ 2.87 (2.99%)
UNITY 15.40 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.12%)
WTL 1.19 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.85%)
BR100 4,190 Increased By 29.8 (0.72%)
BR30 14,589 Increased By 182.3 (1.27%)
KSE100 41,904 Increased By 217.8 (0.52%)
KSE30 14,804 Increased By 61.5 (0.42%)
Technology

GoZayaan acquires Pakistan's FindMyAdventure for $3.5mn

  • Singapore-based travel startup expands into Pakistan with aim to improve region's travel and tourism infrastructure
Published February 16, 2022
Picture courtesy: GoZayaan
Picture courtesy: GoZayaan
Follow us

Singapore-based travel startup GoZayaan, operating in Bangladesh, has acquired Pakistan’s FindMyAdventure as it expands its online tourism business, a deal that Bloomberg reported was worth $3.5 million.

FindMyAdventure, founded by LUMS alumnus Muhammad Komail Abbas along with three others, is a travel-tech platform specialising in adventure tours for the local market in Pakistan. Since 2016, when it started as an online platform enabling users to book travel experiences, it has expanded into rentals, luxury tourism, and digital experiences, and has over 300 hotel partners in the country.

On the other hand, South Asian travel-tech platform, GoZayaan, is reportedly the largest online platform in Bangladesh with over 700,000 monthly active users since starting in 2017. It also recently closed an undisclosed round backed by existing investors, Nordstar Partners, Saurabh Gupta, Partner at DST Global, and Alexander Rittweger, Founder of PAYBACK, it said in a statement. Last year, it had closed a $2.6-million seed round.

"One of the core reasons for this acquisition is the similarity between Bangladesh and Pakistan in terms of geography, user behaviour, internet penetration and travel landscape," GoZayaan said.

"These two South Asian countries consist of 5% of the world’s population and are equal to almost 60% of South East Asia’s population, which means it would be a huge opportunity in terms of growth and market penetration. This arrangement also supports the collective ability of FindMyAdventure and GoZayaan to improve the region’s travel and tourism infrastructure with rapid technology adoption and improved access to travel."

Abbas, now the country managing director of GoZayaan Pakistan, said the aim is continue solving regional travel-related problems, and offer online travel and ticketing as well as adventure tourism.

GoZayaan has initially invested $3.5 million as part of the deal, according to two people familiar with the matter, reported Bloomberg.

The company is slated to compete with Bookme, Pakistan’s largest online travel and ticketing platform, that raised $7.5 million in December, and Sastaticket. The two are said to be bigger players in the online travel agencies' segment, say industry sources.

Successful seed rounds, funding and inflow of investments have seen an upsurge in Pakistan recently, with the year 2021 emerging as the best for the startup space in the country. Pakistan witnessed successful completion of 81 deals worth $350 million. The amount raised was more than five times of what was raised in 2020 i.e. $65 million, according to data compiled by invest2innovate.

Earlier this month, Karachi-based Truck It In raised $13 million in early-stage funding, becoming the largest seed round for a logistics startup in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as well as in Pakistan.

Comments

1000 characters
Changhez Khan Feb 17, 2022 09:55am
I am a tour operator since 40 years. Do domestic in Pakistan and international tours too, Please send me details
thumb_up Recommended (0) reply Reply

GoZayaan acquires Pakistan's FindMyAdventure for $3.5mn

Federal cabinet meeting approves Budget 2023-24

Cyclone Biparjoy: Climate minister says conditions supporting system may intensify

Migrants in UAE, including Pakistanis, turn to crypto to send remittances home

Ali Muhammad Khan re-arrested in Mardan shortly after being discharged from vandalism case

KSE-100 rises 0.52% ahead of budget announcement

Global LNG: Asian spot prices flat on limited demand, ample spot supplies

Blinken to visit China for talks next week: report

Kremlin says US can’t tell Saudi Arabia what to do on oil policy

Britain sets price floor on oil and gas windfall tax

Trump faces federal charges in classified documents case, adding to legal woes