Maya rakes in $2.2mn seed funding

Bangladeshi healthcare startup Maya announced today that it raised $2.2 million in seed funding, the largest ever raised by a Bangladeshi health-tech company.

According a press release, the funding will facilitate new products in Maya's platform and help Maya expand internationally. Maya has recently launched its operations in Sri Lanka. The startup is also testing its services in India and Pakistan.

"Coming from the financial services industry, I have always heard 'Time is Money'— but what I learned as Maya started scaling is 'Time is Lives.' Maya responds to users every seven seconds, and every time we do, we are helping those in need with a level of trust that's hard to find these days," said Ivy Huq Russell, Founder and CEO, Maya in a press release.

The funding was led by early-stage venture investment fund Anchorless Bangladesh and The Osiris Group, a Hong Kong based private equity firm.

"We've spent months working closely with Ivy and her team in what we've found to be the most fascinating and promising healthtech startup in Bangladesh. They've built a product that creates much-needed trust amongst its users and scales via technology to a much wider population in Bangladesh and elsewhere.  We believe Maya's potential to have a global impact on healthcare access is immense," said Rahat Ahmed, Founding Partner and CEO, Anchorless Bangladesh.

Founded by Ivy Huq Russell, Maya started its journey as a healthcare information blog in 2011 to bridge the gap between general public and easy access to basic healthcare information. Over the years, Maya has grown to be a trusted source of healthcare information specialised in dealing with sensitive topics including basic sex education.