Hussain Elius
Hussain M. Elius is a Bangladeshi entrepreneur, who is known for co-founding ride-sharing and delivery platform, Pathao.[1] He initially served as the CEO of Pathao till 2021, when he stepped down and took on a more advisory role.[2]
Hussain Elius | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Citizenship | Bangladesh |
| Education | North South University |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-founder of Pathao |
| Website | https://hmelius.com |
Early life and education
Hussain was born and raised in Dhaka.[3] He started coding in Class 6 and got into freelancing while in high school. In university, he started a small UI/UX firm and started doing UI outsourcing and consultancy.[4]
He completed his MBA from North South University, Bangladesh.[5] While doing his MBA, he met Fahim Saleh, who he would launch Pathao with.[4]
Career
In October 2015, Hussain co-founded Pathao along with Fahim Saleh and Shifat Adnan.[6] Initially, it started out as a delivery service based around a small Facebook group. After a while, they realised that they could use the motorbikes as a ride-sharing option instead. According to Hussain:
We stood in front of universities in Banani and did hardcore sales to put people on our bikes. We would ask people where they wanted to go and tell them “I'll take you there on this bike for a 100 taka”. They would be very confused and scared, naturally, since we are taking them on a bike and it's an alien concept to them. But we kept up and pushed people to get on the bike and take the first few rides. We did this for three days and gave them our card to call us and book. On the fourth day, they would start calling us. After the fifth day, they started talking to their friends about us. And that's how we got initial traction.[6]
The start-up eventually blew up when they launched the app in December 2016. Eventually, they expanded to food delivery and parcel delivery.[6]
In 2021, he stepped down as CEO, but remained as a senior advisor.[2]
References
- ^ "Hussain Elius". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
- ^ a b "Pathao's Fahim Ahmed replaces co-founder Hussain Elius as CEO". BD News 24. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
- ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
- ^ a b "Innovator Under 35: Q & A With Hussain M Elius - Future Startup". 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
- ^ Elius. "About - Office Hours by Elius". hmelius.com. Retrieved 2025-07-04.
- ^ a b c "How Pathao Was Created - Future Startup". 2019-03-28. Retrieved 2025-07-04.