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Only students from approved universities can join, allowing them to coordinate with peers for a more secure journey
Published : 16 Mar 2025, 01:43 AM
At a time when concerns about personal safety are rising amid Bangladesh’s deteriorating law and order situation, four young university students set out to find a solution. Their goal? To make commuting safer for their peers.
Pooling their own funds, they developed GangUp—a web-based platform that allows students from specific universities to form “gangs”—small travel groups that commute together along the same route, enhancing safety through numbers.
The response has been overwhelming. In just 11 days, more than 3,500 students from 25 universities have joined the platform, eager to share secure rides with their peers.
For now, students can visit GangUpNow.com to create or join a gang and make their daily commute safer.
To create or join a group, students must have a valid student email ID from their respective university.
The brains behind GangUp are four computer science students: Mahir Abdullah, Fahim Ahmed, and Monish Chanda Rudra, all in their 8th semester at BRAC University, along with Shahriar Ahmed Shovon, a fifth-semester student at Daffodil International University.
Speaking on Google Meet on Tuesday night, the team shared the story behind their initiative and future plans.
Shahriar said, "There is growing concern among students about the overall situation in the country. There are frequent incidents of mugging and attacks, and that's where the concern arises from.
“We were thinking that students are unsafe, and we needed to figure out what could be done. That's when Mahir bhai shared the idea with Fahim bhai."
Another student Mahir said, “We’re all part of the same circle. Towards the end of February, a series of incidents triggered panic—especially the shooting in board daylight during a mugging.
“On the 23rd of February, I was in a discussion with members of a BRAC University club, where I’m a member. When news of the incident spread, students started panicking.
“Many of us return home late—what if something like this happened to us?”
He continued, “Usually, after classes end around 5:30pm, students post in university groups asking if anyone else is heading to Mohammadpur or other areas. This whole process is manual. It struck me—why not automate it? If we could connect students efficiently, they could reach home more safely.”
“I shared the idea with Fahim, who then discussed it with Shovon.”
“We got to work that very day. The first few days were intense—we had to put in a lot of effort. There was no official launch.
“We just made a single Facebook post in a BRAC University group on Mar 1 at 12:30am.
“Surprisingly, the response was overwhelming. Students—our Gen Z peers—quickly embraced it, defining it as a "cool tech" solution to a real problem.”
Mahir explained that they initially treated the project as an experiment to understand the real needs of students.
“We initially started by including 10 universities, but within 11 days, we've expanded to 25 universities,” he said.
“There are now over 3,500 users and more than 500 gangs have been formed."
Mahir said they receive numerous messages from students every day, asking when their universities will be added to GangUp.
He added that they plan to connect with public universities next, where they expect a large number of users to join the platform.
When asked about the amount of work required to develop the app, Shahriar said: “In the early stages of development, we had to put in a lot of work.
“The seven-day journey from Feb 23 to Mar 1 was quite lengthy.”
He added, “After the release, when traffic started increasing, we had to continuously make adjustments.
“We had to change servers multiple times and address concerns related to privacy, security, and more. 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, which serves as the primary verification tool.
For instance, if a student from North South University commutes daily to Mohammadpur, they can create an "NSU to Mohammadpur" gang on the platform.
They can specify their travel times and invite other students to join.
In addition, they can indicate their preferred mode of transport, such as a motorcycle, car, rented autorickshaw, or ride-sharing service.
By travelling together, students can reduce costs and enhance security.
Having access to complete information about fellow travellers makes the journey much safer, especially for female students.
Fahim said, “Only verified university students can join. For example, BRAC University provides each student with a university email ID.
“According to [University Grant Commission] regulations, all universities must now allocate official email addresses to students. We use this as the verification tool.
“A code is sent to the student's university email, which they must enter to verify their profile,” he added.
The developer explained that when a student creates a gang, they will only be able to create it with other students from the same university.
“We are thinking of introducing the option to set up location or point-based gangs soon,” he said.
APP’S COSTS, REVENUE PLANS
The app’s creators say they have handled everything related to the development themselves, covering any associated costs out of pocket.
When asked if they have considered revenue generation from the app or what its business model will be, Mahir said: “We haven’t actually thought about a revenue model. 'Our' focus was on how to provide students with safe and moderate travel options.
“We’ve received an overwhelming response to this. Now, we are speaking with 'our' seniors and a few investors.
“Whatever happens, the model will be that we will never charge students.”
They are considering generating income through collaboration with car rental companies or ride-sharing services in the future.
Entrepreneur Manish said, “Our analysis indicates that people have a strong preference for cars and autorickshaws.
“We might collaborate with a ride-sharing provider for autorickshaw services, or possibly multiple providers, to offer either autorickshaw or car services.”
He said their expectation from the companies they affiliate with is that they will offer services to students at a price lower than their regular rates, ensuring that students can travel safely at a lower cost.
Manish believes this will be a win-win situation for both parties.
WHEN WILL THE MOBILE APP BE AVAILABLE?
Currently, GangUp is running on the website. Due to an overwhelming response, the creators are working on developing the app for both Android and Apple platforms.
They plan to launch the app by the end of this month.
Fahim said, “Our platform is now quite stable. We are updating it regularly and gathering feedback from users.
“Based on their suggestions, we are moving forward.”
He added, “Right now, 'our' app is web-based. Although the current web application is perfect in every way, we are moving to the next phase with a mobile app.
“If everything goes well, we will launch it this month. There are still limitations on the web version, such as users having to sign up manually by providing information.
Fahim explained that once the app is launched, users will be able to verify their details by simply scanning their ID card and login.
He highlighted that verification will be the top priority.
The developer said, “Currently, when users join a gang, they have to check notifications by visiting the website, but with the app, notifications will be visible right there.
“We are moving quickly towards launching both Android and iOS versions,” he concluded.
[Writing in English by Sheikh Fariha Bristy]
