Interview with Maha Shahzad - Founder and CEO, BusCaro: ‘Safe, affordable commute is a basic right’

Maha Shahzad is the founder and CEO of BusCaro, a mobility startup working to provide safe, affordable commuting options in Pakistan, particularly for women and low-income workers.

A self-taught entrepreneur and college dropout, she began her career at Foodpanda, later held leadership roles at Careem and Swvl, and launched BusCaro in response to overwhelming commuter demand. Today, the company runs over 900 buses across three cities, serves 20,000+ daily riders, and has raised $1.5 million in funding despite more than 400 investor rejections.

Following are the edited excerpts of a recent conversation BR Research had with her:

BR Research: Let’s start with you. Your profile mentions you as a self-proclaimed entrepreneur and a proud college dropout. How did your journey shape your view of success and leadership in Pakistan’s tech ecosystem?

Maha Shahzad: I grew up between Pakistan and the United States and struggled with mobility from early on. During college, I worked to pay tuition, and commuting consumed time felt unsafe and was financially impractical. I eventually left college and realised many women faced similar constraints.

Later, when working in Pakistan, a significant share of my income still went to commuting, with persistent safety concerns. When Careem launched in Pakistan, I returned in 2017 and have lived here since, committed to improving safe and affordable mobility for women, men, and children.

On education: I am not opposed to it (I’m a big believer in a quality education and have built a career enabling students to have easier access) (I’ve pushed my siblings hard to be in college) my siblings are in college, and I hold them to a high standard.

Education is valuable, but the absence of a particular credential should not preclude people from building and contributing. Our ecosystem often over-indexes on foreign degrees or a few local institutions. Those are fine, but they should not be gatekeepers. I was rarely “qualified on paper,” so I focused on performance until questions about credentials became irrelevant. In leadership hiring, I look for ownership, learning agility, and judgment. Those traits can emerge from any institution; without them, people rarely grow into leaders.

BRR: What prompted you to found BusCaro, and what is the mission?

MS: In many countries, safe public transportation is a taxpayer-funded right. In Pakistan, it is not. Women pay a higher share of income for commuting and children lack safe options.

After leaving Careem, I wanted to solve this at scale. Ride-hailing everywhere is a convenience product with difficult unit economics; it cannot serve the entire population. I moved into high-capacity transport, consulted for Swvl, then led its Pakistan operations.

When Swvl shut down here, my inbox was full of messages from people asking how they would get to school or work the next day. Our founding team felt responsible. Despite a recessionary funding environment, we believed we were best placed to solve this and started with one bus, growing from there.

BRR: Is BusCaro simply filling the gap left by ride-hailing or by players like Swvl and Airlift?

MS: Not exactly. Careem and Uber serve a different price point and prioritise convenience, not daily commuting. Paying around Rs 2,000 for a single ride versus roughly Rs 400 for the same distance on a high-capacity vehicle speaks to different users and use cases.

Ride-hailing often serves car owners, corporate rides, or airport runs. We focus on affordability and safety for everyday commuting—children, women, and a large base of male riders as well. While Swvl and Airlift targeted similar users in high-capacity transport, our economics, acquisition approach, and operating model differ.

BRR: Why did several mobility startups shut down and how does BusCaro avoid similar pitfalls?

MS: Context matters. Globally, even category leaders took years to reach profitability; startup success rates are low everywhere. Timing hurt Pakistani operators severely. Swvl entered and, six months later, the pandemic halted commuting. Airlift pivoted to quick commerce.

Swvl stayed focused on mobility, waited out lockdowns, and rebuilt; Pakistan became its largest market by bookings and later by GMV. Then macro headwinds intensified—Russia–Ukraine, rapidly changing investor sentiment, rising interest rates. Swvl was not yet profitable, and capital dried up.

My approach is to be committed to the problem, not a single model. A classic B2C approach here is high-burn: customer acquisition cost is effectively dollar-based while revenue is rupee-based, creating a CAC–LTV mismatch that has challenged many Pakistani tech firms. We built during a recession without easy capital, so we engineered sustainability.

Rather than spend heavily on digital ads, we acquire through institutions and communities—schools, workplaces, housing societies—which brings acquisition costs down. Subscriptions and predictable commuter flows improve utilisation and unit economics. That is how we designed the business.

BRR: Do you see global parallels to your approach?

MS: There are relevant analogues. In the United States, Zum focuses on children’s transportation; CharterUp serves B2B charter use cases—both are successful. In the Middle East, Swvl now emphasises B2B/B2B2C. There is activity in Turkey (for example, Volt) and in India. We adapt what fits to Pakistan’s realities.

BRR: You have been cited as growing from one bus to more than 900 across three cities. Over what period, and who are your key customers?

MS: We fully launched in November 2022, and we are now approaching three years of operations. Our primary markets are Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Our bookings and revenue are split between daily commuting for schools and for workplaces.

Roughly one-third of riders are women, one-third are minors, and one-third are men—each segment rides for different reasons. In education, we work with networks such as Hamdard and Beaconhouse. On the B2B side, we serve factories and offices; our riders include people at organisations such as foodpanda, EFU, and Style Textile. If you need a safe, affordable way to get to school or work, you are in our target segment.

BRR: How do you assess impact for women beyond ridership counts?

MS: By removing commute as a barrier to education and employment. We see parents sending children to school with confidence and women travelling safely and affordably, retaining more of their income.

Early-career women often spend a disproportionate share on transport, unlike male counterparts who may have broader mobility options. Combine that with pay gaps and the challenge compounds. Our mission is to ensure anyone in Pakistan who wishes to commute can do so safely, affordably, and with dignity. That is the impact that matters.

BRR: Pakistan’s mobility landscape has infrastructure and regulatory constraints. How do you navigate them?

MS: Every business here faces constraints. I chose to build solutions rather than enumerate obstacles. If I wanted perfect infrastructure, I could have returned to the United States and competed with autonomous mobility incumbents.

Building in Pakistan means accepting constraints and delivering outcomes regardless. Regulation is not my core focus; operating effectively within the existing environment is. We planned for those realities from the outset.

BRR: You recently raised about US$1.5 million and mentioned facing many rejections. What did you learn about raising capital in Pakistan and globally post-2021?

MS: The 2021 cycle brought extraordinary liquidity. By March 2022, conditions reversed—global recession and, locally, multiple headwinds: high-profile closures, political upheaval, urban flooding—none of which helped sentiment. By the second quarter, funding announcements largely stopped, and many companies shut down. That is when I began raising.

In the United States, one can map dozens of mobility-focused investors and run a structured process. In Pakistan, there were five local VCs; three were raising funds themselves.

Two rejections could effectively stall a local round. Some founders build “for investors” (yesterday, fintech; today, AI). I chose to build for customers and suppliers. If you make the business succeed, investors come around. We bootstrapped, absorbed roughly 500 “no’s,” and sent regular updates. Several who declined initially returned after seeing product-market fit and traction. We closed that round, and we have subsequently raised another, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

BRR: What is next for BusCaro—geography, product, or safety features?

MS: We have only begun to address the opportunity in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Hundreds of millions in Pakistan still lack access to a safe, affordable commute. We remain focused on the core use cases—schools, universities, and workplaces—ensuring reliable, safe, two-way journeys.

On product, we recently launched a dedicated parent application to support school-age minors’ commutes—uncommon in this region—and we will continue to invest there.

BRR: How do you view Pakistan’s startup ecosystem over the next few years?

MS: I expect more learning, stability, and discipline. Interest rates have declined, which can shift capital from deposits to investment.

Macroeconomic indicators appear to be improving, and I anticipate more funding returning. Failures occur in every ecosystem; that is part of the process. What is encouraging is that talent has levelled up—many operators now have hard-earned experience that will serve them and their companies well.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025