The Backpack Blog

Weekly Independent: Backpack— A Sillicon Valley Startup Founded by Two Bangladeshis (Print)

FRIDAY, 04 JULY 2014

Backpack, a Silicon Valley based technology startup founded by two Bangladeshis, promises a vision massive in scale, that is you can get any product from anywhere in the world. That vision promises its users that they have access to global market. The vision promises what Amazon and eBay failed to do that a kid from Bangladesh can get his dreamed Harry Potter poster from eBay or Amazon and get that product from a traveler found through Backpack. That the cost incurred will be lower if he were to get the product shipped through regular shipping methods. That the Vietnamese spice that a housewife in Zambia wants to get hold of for years is now possible without leaving her city because a traveler from Vietnam to Zambia might get that for her. That billions of travelers are able to earn money while doing an important service to humanity, enabling people get what they want.

Backpack is a free, online, peer-to-peer platform that connects shoppers and travelers to the global market. It allows travelers to carry a product for you while charging you fees lower than what you pay in traditional shipping methods. In this way, Backpack addresses the role of prohibitive shipping costs that restrict the global outflow of products.

As a shopper, you simply search for a product from anywhere in the world, find a traveler, and have it delivered to you. As a traveler, you can list your trip, deliver an item, and earn money. Backpack allows its buyers to purchase products that may or may not be available to them otherwise at (1) a discounted price and (2) a guaranteed lower shipping fee. It also allows a carrier to bring back goods from places they go and earn money doing so, consequently making traveling more affordable.

Backpack CEO Fahim Masoud Aziz is spending busy times accelerating growth of this promising startup while its Chief Technology Officer, another Bangladeshi and Buetian, Sakib hasan Sauro is overseeing the technical and scaling aspect of the product. Both grew up in Dhaka, attended prestigious Notre Dame College and led Notre Dame debating club in its crucial stage of growth. In a way, Backpack is a story of innovative genes of audacious Bangladeshis who prove time and time again that Bangladeshis can touch lives in grand scale.

Founded in Fahim’s home, Backpack is the product of two weeks of intense coding in late winter 2013. It marks the belief that any dream that can be imagined can come true. The startup has received overwhelming attention upon its launch of Minimum Viable Product (MVP) back in February 2014.

In 48 hours of making the site live, Backpack received 47,580 hits from over 50 countries around the world. In a week, it reached people in 86 countries. So far, the deals that have been recorded in the site are worth $194,688.80, each item averaging at $410.74 and Backpack does not keep a penny from this – it’s entirely free to uphold our mission of connecting the world and making it a better place

With feedback from users and through iteration, Backpack aspires to meet user’s every need to have a smooth experience. Join Backpack at www.backpackbang.com. Happy Backpacking!