Gobi Partners has made its first investment in Bangladesh, backing Dhaka-headquartered B2B travel commerce platform Jatri as the venture firm expands its footprint in South Asia, the companies said.
Jatri said it provides travel agents, travel management companies and corporate buyers with a single platform to access and distribute travel inventory and tap embedded trade finance, targeting industry pain points such as fragmented supply, last-minute demand and limited working capital.
The company said it now operates in more than 100 cities across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the UK, Europe and North America, and has processed more than 250 million lifetime transactions.
Jatri said its network includes access to more than 80,000 car drivers, 6,000 buses and 40 ferry operators, supporting intercity, cross-border and multimodal travel.
Jatri said it has built a significant presence in the Middle East and North Africa through Saafir, a region-focused brand, with the region accounting for close to 60% of total revenue.
The company said it works with more than 70 travel companies, naming clients including Almatar, dnata, Mannai Travel and Satguru Travel, and said those partners collectively drive more than $10 billion in annual travel sales in the Middle East.
Aziz Arman, Jatri’s founder and chief executive, said the investment would help scale product innovation and deepen partnerships across airlines, hospitality groups, financial institutions and enterprise travel buyers.
Gobi Partners co-founder and chairman Thomas G. Tsao said Jatri stood out among travel and mobility startups in Bangladesh for its leadership and cross-border scalability.
Business News Asia
