Singapore-based travel startup GoZayaan enters Pakistan with acquisition

[PAKISTAN] Singapore-based travel startup GoZayaan, which operates in Bangladesh, has now entered Pakistan by acquiring adventure tourism portal FindMyAdventure.

The Pakistan unit of GoZayaan will offer online travel and ticketing as well as adventure tourism, said Muhammad Komail Abbas, managing director for the country. GoZayaan has initially invested US$3.5 million as part of the deal, according to 2 people familiar with the matter.

This comes as Pakistan, one of the world's last big untapped markets, is seeing a funding frenzy in its startups. The South Asian nation has raised more than US$350 million last year, greater than the amount raised in at least the past 6 years combined.

GoZayaan is the largest online platform in Bangladesh with over 700,000 monthly active users since starting in 2017. It sees similarities in both markets including user behaviour, Internet penetration and travel landscape.

Pakistan's travel market is estimated to increase by a third to US$12 billion in 2024, according to Abbas. The company will compete with Bookme, Pakistan's largest online travel and ticketing platform, that raised US$7.5 million in December. BLOOMBERG