Ticketing startup Bookme seeks a hot new market, expands from Pakistan to Myanmar

Bookme’s Faizan Aslam (right) and Lychee Ventures’ Andreas Sigurdsson (left)

Pakistani startup Bookme, an online booking platform for movies, events, and bus services, announced today that it will be starting operations in Myanmar. The startup, an alumni of Lahore-based incubator Plan9 and accelerator PlanX, is partnering with local company Lychee Ventures to bring bus and cinema ticketing services to Yangon.

Bookme was valued at US$4 million following a seed round earlier this year and was also one of the arena finalists at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2014. Media mogul Faisal Sherjan also joined the company as director to help steer the future growth strategy.

Faizan Aslam, Bookme’s CEO, says he sees tremendous potential in the Myanmar market. “Mobile phone penetration is already past the 50 percent mark, and it is expected to hit 75 percent by the end of 2016,” he tells Tech in Asia. “Many foreign businesses are flowing into Myanmar and we’re confident about our future.”

Lychee Ventures, the local partner, is focused on exploring opportunities within the media and ecommerce sectors in Myanmar. It publishes two magazines, and is also venturing into travel guides. For now, Bookme will offer cinema tickets to two outlets – Mignalar Cinemas and JCGV cinemas, with others to follow.