A case study of Shipnow, the online transportation system founded by Amir Erfani in 2016 that became the most used platform of its kind in Isfahan, Iran — fully bootstrapped.
Shipnow launched in 2016 as an online transportation system for the city of Isfahan, Iran. By 2022 it had created jobs for 6,000 drivers and grown sales by 6000% in five years — with no external investment.
Why bootstrapping worked
- Built by an in-house engineering team (Sepano Data Processing) instead of outsourcing
- Grew city by city instead of chasing national coverage on day one
- Reinvested revenue instead of raising capital
Results
Today Shipnow is the most reliable and most used online transportation system in Isfahan, and the playbook behind it now powers other products from the same team, including the Duvita restaurant-management platform and the Shipshop online shop.
