HungryNaki on the verge of closure

HungryNaki, one of the first and longest running online food delivery platform in Bangladesh, is reportedly on the verge of shutting down. After experiencing a reduction in operations and staff layoffs last year, the company has struggled to compete with market leaders such as Food Panda and Pathao Foods. Additionally, the increasingly stringent business environment has further contributed to the decision, insiders have revealed.

Founded by three Bangladeshi friends in 2013, HungryNaki became a major player to in Bangladesh's emerging food delivery market. To accelerate its business in a digital quick-commerce Daraz acquired the food delivery business.

Following the acquisition of HungryNaki, Daraz had initially planned to expand its coverage to 100 areas but scaled back to 15 last year. In the meantime, market saw extreme competition which resulted in the departures of UberEats in 2020 and Shohoz Food in 2021. Additionally, E-food, the food delivery arm of Ponzi-style e-commerce platform Evaly, was also discontinued in 2021 with the closure of Evaly itself. Several other food delivery platforms launched in the meantime; most of them closed down and a few that are open, holds a very insignificant market share. Presently, HungryNaki operates in only a few areas of the capital, with a reduced number of partner restaurants and delivery personnel.

When asked, a senior management staff of Daraz, the parent venture of HungryNaki has informed that Daraz in the process of integrating HungryNaki into the Daraz platform to creating a comprehensive super-app experience for our customers. He also stated, requesting anonymity, that HungryNaki is being dissolved and being integrated in different departments of Daraz."