HungryNaki takeover by Alibaba 

Global e-commerce giant Alibaba has bought HungryNaki, a local Bangladeshi food delivery company at around Tk8 crore, to strengthen its footprint in Bangladesh. Established in 2013, HungryNaki is the first on-demand food delivery company in Bangladesh

HungryNaki is serving more than 500,000 customers across Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet, Cox’s Bazar, and Narayanganj through its network of over 4,000 restaurants in these cities and towns. The company has around 500 drivers and 100 staff.

General secretary of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh, Muhammad Abdul Wahed Tomal said, “This will be a positive move, “HungryNaki will get bigger.”

Bangladesh’s food delivery market has attracted international interest before. Berlin-based Foodpanda launched in the country soon after HungryNaki. More recently, Singapore-based Golden Gate Ventures led a $15 million round for rival delivery service Shohoz.

Industry insiders said now the country is witnessing a boom of different types of e-commerce services and global companies are showing utmost interest to invest in the Bangladesh market.

Alibaba started investing in Bangladesh by acquiring the largest online shopping company Daraz in 2018. At the same year, “Alipay”, the Chinese mobile payment giant owned by Alibaba Group, bought 20 percent stakes in Bangladesh’s largest mobile financial services provider “bKash Limited”.

Alibaba, the Chinese multinational technology company that works in e-commerce, retail, internet, and technology, was founded in 1999.

It is one of the top 10 most valuable corporations and is named the 31st-largest public company in the world on the Forbes Global 2020 list.

In December 2020, the Chinese authorities launched an investigation into the alleged monopolistic practices of Alibaba Group.