Amid growing concerns over personal safety due to Bangladesh’s deteriorating law and order, four young university students sought to create a solution to ensure safer commuting for their peers.
Pooling their personal resources, they developed GangUp—a web-based platform allowing students from specific universities to create “gangs”—small travel groups that travel together on the same route, promoting safety in numbers.
The platform has seen an overwhelming response, with over 3,500 students from 25 universities joining in just 11 days, eager to commute securely with others. Students can currently visit GangUpNow.com to join or form a gang to make their daily commutes safer.
To create or join a gang, students need to have a valid university email ID from their respective institution.
The creators of GangUp are four computer science students: Mahir Abdullah, Fahim Ahmed, and Monish Chanda Rudra, all in their 8th semester at BRAC University, and Shahriar Ahmed Shovon, a fifth-semester student at Daffodil International University. During a Google Meet on Tuesday night, the team shared their initiative’s story and their future plans.
Shahriar said, “Students are increasingly worried about the overall safety situation in the country, especially with frequent incidents of mugging and attacks. That’s where the concern stems from.” He added, “We were all thinking about how unsafe students were, and we needed to figure out what we could do. That’s when Mahir bhai shared the idea with Fahim bhai.”
Mahir explained, “We are all part of the same circle. In late February, a series of incidents, especially the daylight shooting during a mugging, caused widespread panic.”
Mahir continued, “On February 23, I was having a discussion with members of a BRAC University club. When news of the incident spread, panic set in. Many of us return home late—what if something like this happened to us?”
He further said, “Normally, after classes end around 5:30 pm, students post in university groups asking if anyone else is heading to areas like Mohammadpur. This process is manual, so it struck me—why not automate it? If we could connect students more efficiently, they could travel home more safely.”
Mahir shared the idea with Fahim, who later discussed it with Shovon.
The team got to work immediately, and the first few days were intense, as they worked hard without an official launch. “We just made one Facebook post in a BRAC University group on March 1 at 12:30 am. The response was overwhelming. Our peers—Gen Z—quickly embraced it as a ‘cool tech’ solution to a real problem.”
Mahir explained that they initially treated the project as an experiment to understand the actual needs of students. “We started with just 10 universities, but within 11 days, we expanded to 25 universities,” he said. “Now, we have over 3,500 users and more than 500 gangs formed.” Mahir added that they receive numerous messages every day from students asking when their universities will be added.
The team plans to connect with public universities next, where they anticipate many more users will join the platform.
Shahriar reflected on the amount of work involved in the app’s development: “The seven-day journey from February 23 to March 1 was quite long. After the release, we had to make adjustments as traffic increased. We changed servers multiple times and addressed privacy and security concerns. Now, the workload has reduced a bit.”
HOW TO JOIN
Only students from universities approved by the app can join GangUp.
To register, students must use their official university email ID as a verification tool.
For example, if a student from North South University commutes to Mohammadpur, they can create a “NSU to Mohammadpur” gang on the platform. They can specify their travel time and invite others to join, indicating their preferred transport, like a motorcycle, car, autorickshaw, or ride-sharing service.
By traveling together, students can reduce costs and increase security. The platform provides a safer journey, especially for female students, by allowing them to have complete information about their fellow travelers.
Fahim said, “Only verified university students can join. BRAC University, for instance, provides each student with a university email ID. According to University Grant Commission regulations, all universities must allocate official email addresses. We use these for verification.” A code is sent to the student’s university email, which they must enter to verify their profile.
The team plans to introduce location-based gangs soon.
APP’S COSTS AND REVENUE PLANS
The creators have handled all development costs out of pocket. When asked about a revenue model, Mahir said, “We haven’t focused on a revenue model yet. Our main goal is to offer students safe, moderate travel options. The response has been overwhelming, and now we are talking with seniors and some investors.” He emphasized that the model would always remain free for students.
They are considering generating income through partnerships with car rental or ride-sharing services, with plans to offer students discounted rates on transport.
Mahir added, “Our analysis shows that people prefer cars and autorickshaws. We might collaborate with ride-sharing providers to offer either autorickshaw or car services. We expect these companies to provide services at a price lower than their regular rates, ensuring safer and more affordable travel for students.”
WHEN WILL THE MOBILE APP BE AVAILABLE?
GangUp is currently available as a web platform. Due to the overwhelming response, the creators are working on launching mobile apps for both Android and iOS platforms by the end of this month.
Fahim said, “Our platform is stable now, and we’re updating it regularly based on feedback from users. We are moving to the next phase by developing a mobile app.” He added that once the app is launched, students will be able to verify their details by scanning their ID cards and logging in directly. Notifications will also be available within the app.
Fahim concluded, “We are moving quickly toward launching both Android and iOS versions.”
