Bangladesh is the world’s 8th most populous country and is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. The 4.5 Million neighborhood mom-and-pop shops in Bangladesh account for 98% of the country’s retail sector, making Bangladesh one of the most fragmented retail markets in Asia. Small retailers face constant challenges in procuring goods from multiple distributors and wholesalers across an equally fragmented supply chain.

Enter ShopUp, Flourish’s first investment in Bangladesh, which just announced a Series A round of $22.5 million. It provides 680,000+ merchants small businesses easy access to B2B sourcing, last-mile logistics, digital credit and business management solutions. This helps these neighborhood mom and pop sellers achieve more profit with less effort, allowing them to focus their efforts towards engaging with their customers and business expansion.

In this Flourish Thought Leader Spotlight video session, Smita Aggarwal interviews Afeef Zaman, Co-founder and CEO of ShopUp, to tell his founder story, and describe what has happened to their customers since COVID-19 and what they are doing to help support people and businesses through the crisis. The number of neighborhood shops transacting weekly on the ShopUp platform has grown by 8.5 times between April and August 2020, making ShopUp the fastest growing platform for business users in Bangladesh.