Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban or National Parliament House, is the house of the Parliament of Bangladesh, located at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.
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We are delighted that Bangladesh is the proud host of the 25th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2021, one of the most important and prestigious ICT events in the world in Dhaka, Bangladesh from November 11-14, 2021.
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We Believe together we are ready to support the participants stepping into the success. Visit this link for more competition info: https://buff.ly/2woeX8A
Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) is a platform to encourage young entrepreneurs to venture their innovative ideas of startups and build a startup ecosystem by establishing this event as a flagship program at the national and international levels. Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) was initiated by the Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) in 2019. The first Bangabandhu Innovation Grant was handed over to the ten winning startups from the second chapter of the national level contest ‘Student to Startup,’ on October 16, 2019. And to celebrate the birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibor Rahman, the groundbreaking ‘BIG 2021’ was announced with a larger scope.
The three main focuses of this initiative are: University and Stakeholder Activation Campaign, a TV reality show, and an international roadshow to encourage and solve various practical business challenges using effective strategies and innovation & technology. The iDEA project is organising BIG 2021 with the support of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority(BHTPA), Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA), and a2i. There are also different trade associations as private partners, including BASIS, BACCO, BCS, ECAB, ISPAB, and BIJF.
Bangabandhu Innovation Grant 2021 will showcase the talent and creativity of local talents and aspiring entrepreneurs through a thirteen-episode TV Reality Show. Startup Bangladesh Limited, the flagship venture capital fund of the ICT Ministry, is one of the proud sponsors of the TV reality show alongside Bangladesh’s two prominent enterprises Evaly and Walton. At a press conference on June 9, 2021, Ms Tina F Jabeen, Managing Director and CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited, said, “ As a Venture Capital Fund.Startup Bangladesh Limited is honored and proud to sponsor Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2021. We look forward to making potential equity investments of up to one crore each in multiple startups contingent upon Due Diligence approval from the Company. These startups will join “Shotoborshe Shoto Asha” vintage.“ She assured that Startup Bangladesh Limited is determined to enable faster innovation, create new jobs, develop technical skills, and realise the vision of Digital Bangladesh by strengthening the startup ecosystem of Bangladesh and empowering the entrepreneurs. This company is continuously supporting early-stage to high-growth tech-based and social impact companies in the form of capital, financial guidance, and operational guidance considering the startup requirements.
Startup Bangladesh Ltd. launched “ShotoBorshe Shoto Asha” with a commitment to invest BDT 100 Crore in 50 startups in 2021 to celebrate the birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh. Therefore, joining the“Shotoborshe Shoto Asha” pipeline will be a significant milestone for the top startups of BIG 2021.
The reality TV show will air on Ekattor TV from the 1st of July and continue till 31st July, and during the course, the top sixty-five national start-ups will pitch their ideas. These startups will also get the opportunity to join a six-day-long boot camp and factory visits before the reality show. In each episode of the reality show, five start-ups will compete with one another, and from each round, the top two start-ups will be selected. In the end, a total of twenty-six start-ups will go to the final round and will be receiving a grant of BDT ten lakh each from the iDEA Project. Ten international startups will join these top twenty-six local startups in the final round.
The ten international startups were chosen from a pool of two hundred and fifty-five registered ideas in the BIG International Startup Competition 2021. For this competition, more than seven thousand startups registered from fifty-six countries. This groundbreaking campaign was run in one hundred and forty countries and received an enormous response.
In the final round, the winning startup will get USD 100,000 as prize money. The remaining thirty-five startups will get a grant of BDT 10,00,000 from the Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) of the Information and Communication Technology Division. Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy will be present in the Grand Finale to hand over the prizes to the winning startups.
Nestled between India and China, Bangladesh has remained relatively obscure to the startup investment rush in Asia that is until recently. Riding on solid fundamentals the ecosystem is coming of age – with more than USD 275 million+ in foreign direct investment made in Startups over the last 7 years while creating more than 1.5 million+ in direct/indirect employment. The nation’s startup scenario is transforming rapidly and has come a long way, with miles to go. To enable the nation to innovate faster, create new jobs, develop technical skills, and realize the vision of Digital Bangladesh, the ICT Division, under the steadfast leadership of Honorable State Minister Mr. Zunaid Ahmad Palak has taken pioneering initiatives to ignite the startup ecosystem of Bangladesh.
With that in hindsight, Startup Bangladesh Limited– the first and only venture capital company owned by the Government of Bangladesh was formed in March 2020 with a committed fund of 500 crores ($65 million). Startup Bangladesh Limited recently launched its inaugural investment initiative “ShotoBorshe Shoto Asha” and declared to invest BDT 100 crore in 50 startups in 2021 as part of its efforts to mark the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh. The company announced its first series of investments worth BDT 15 crore ($1.75 million) to seven startups on 31st March 2021.
Post the announcement, Startup Bangladesh Limited very recently organized “Ask Us Anything: Getting Investment” – a webinar on 20th April 2021, to address the queries received from numerous startups and entrepreneurs across the country and provide further clarity on the overall investment and due diligence process.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Tina F. Jabeen; Managing DIrector & CEO, Startup Bangladesh Limited appreciated all the startups for the overwhelming responses and queries received so far and thanked everyone for joining. In response to many of the queries received during the session, she shared that Startup Bangladesh Limited is a natural progression of the previous startup and entrepreneurship related project under ICT Division. Under the Startup Bangladesh Campaign of ICT Division, IDEA Project and Startup Bangladesh Ltd. are two separate initiatives where IDEA primarily provides startup grants while on the other hand, Startup Bangladesh Limited is a Venture Capital and it will make equity investments in seed, early and growth stage startups with the option to co-invest, run as fund-of-funds, asset manager and provide other support to local startups and stakeholders. She assured that Startup Bangladesh Limited is committed to support startups not only through one time grant or investment rather support startups in their journey on different stages. She further added that this flagship venture capital fund is a monumental effort by the Government of Bangladesh and supported by our visionary leader Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mr Fayez Ahmed, Investment Manager of Startup Bangladesh Limited shared the major industry focus of the fund currently; including but not limited to – Fintech/Financial Services, Health-tech/ Healthcare, Enterprise Solutions/ Software, Entertainment & Lifestyle, E-commerce/Retail, Frontier Technology, Core Technologies/AI/Deep Tech, EdTech/Education, Food and Agri-tech/Agriculture, IoT, Logistics/Mobility, Emerging Technology Related Services.
Addressing further queries, he added that the fund is not only for commercially-focused business driven startups but also for social impact startups and enterprises.
During the presentation, Mr. Fayez Ahmed illustrated how the investment process works and talked everyone through the overall process in detail. To summarise,
At the end of the presentation, Mr Fayez Ahmed led a panel discussion session with two very important stakeholder and strategic partners of Startup Bangladesh Limited. Ms. Anita Ghazi Rahman, Founder, and CEO, The Legal Circle and Mr. Bijon Islam, Co-founder & CEO, LightCastle Partners join the panel discussion to share more indepth knowledge on the due diligence process.
During the moderated discussion, Ms. Anita Ghazi Rahman took the audience through the legal due diligence process; depicting the below steps:
1. A consolidated due diligence checklist is shared with the investee/approved startup. When the startup gets the checklist, they should collect and prepare all the papers and upload them in the data room. If some documents are not provided or missing, the investment process might get delayed.
2. Once all the documents are received, due diligence of startups (Legal, Financial & Tax) will begin. Upon completion, a due diligence report is shared with Startup Bangladesh Limited with summary. All the regulatory and compliance items are written to ensure those are completed, no file is pending, or flag if any Tax/VAT claim or other item are open.
3. Negotiation of terms of investment sheets are prepared and sent according to the type and stage of the startups.
4. Once the due diligence seems appropriate, the Terms Sheet is closed.
5. Upon satisfactory completion of all the due diligence process, the negotiation and closing of the transaction documents are done. Transaction documents mainly refer to the investment agreements and shareholders agreements. If the company is in the growth stage, it might need to execute few other documents. In this step, the negotiation is elongated depending on the stage of the startup. Two or more negotiations can be required.
6. If all the conditions are fulfilled, the investee and Startup Bangladesh Limited will sign the agreement and the investment will be progressed. dis
7. Generally, while signing the investment agreement, the amount for tranche-1 is disbursed. Some milestones or performance matrix are prepared and pre-agreed by both parties subject to which the next tranches of investment are made.
Responding to a question about the key legal requirements for a startup while planning to receive for an investment, Ms Anita Ghazi Rahman shared that a startup needs to be registered as a company. She also mentioned that documents such as TIN, Trade Licence, VAT/Tax documents, special licence (for logistics/mobility startups etc.) are required to satisfy the due diligence process. She emphasized that startups should also maintain the minimum compliances such as at least 4 board meetings in a year, AGM at the year end, audit of loss-profit/financial statements, status of any stakeholder’s exit, etc. She additionally advised every startup to keep an extra budget and hire a legal expert to deal with all the issues so that they can be more investment ready for any interested investors.
While talking about the business due diligence, Mr. Bijon Islam talked about the business valuation, and the factors that the VC firm considers while selecting the startups for the investments.
He illustrated the 5 factors model of RomeenSheth that provides some insights on what increases the chances of getting early-stage funding.
He added that on a broader level, from an investment firm/ investor’s point of view five factors are primarily considered while looking into a startup for funding: -,
Along with these five factors, impact assessment of the startup is also done to verify if it has a substantial impact on the market/community. When startups are looking for early-stage funding, they must pay attention to these factors.
For the growth stage startups, along with these key factors, few other elements like track record, existing funding history, future plans, contribution margin, degree of improvement, reduction of total costing, and customer acquisition cost, customer lifetime value etc. are taken into account. Startup Bangladesh Limited has a sectoral focus on Impact-Enterprises. If the impact of the startup is well-explained and impact measurement tools and indicators are well-defined, it will definitely increase the chance of getting funded.
He further discussed the business valuation model for a company. According to him, some indicators are considered for the business valuation such as how much money the startup going to need to run the business for 12-18 months, how the founding team is, the valuation in the financial projection (DCF), the last round valuation, previous KPIs, current KPIs, the estimation in the rise of KPIs, proper justification and explanations of KPIs, the degree of dilution of the entrepreneur, etc. He finally added that there is no linear process but these indicators play a crucial role in current business valuation.
The session was ended with a thank you note.
To learn more about Startup Bangladesh Limited please visit startupbangladesh.vc and follow the social media pages of the company.
On the joyous occasion of the birth centennial of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh, Startup Bangladesh Ltd. launched “ShotoBorshe Shoto Asha” to invest BDT 100 Crore in 50 startups in the year 2021
The company announces the first series of investments to seven startups on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
Startup Bangladesh Limited is the flagship venture capital fund of the ICT Ministry. Under the visionary guidance of Honorable Prime Minister, Startup Bangladesh – the first and only venture capital fund sponsored by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh started its journey in March 2020 with an allocated capital of BDT 500 crores. This effort will enable the nation to innovate faster, create new jobs, develop technical skills, and realize the vision of Digital Bangladesh. The fund will provide investment in equity, convertible debt, and grants in pre-seed, seed, and growth-stage startups. It would invest through co-investments, as a fund-of-funds and asset manager, and provide other in-kind support to startups and stakeholders.
The seven startups that received BDT 15 crores ( 1.75 million) for the first series of the investments are Pathao (ride-sharing/logistics), Dhaka Cast (health-tech), Moner Bondhu (mental health and Wellbeing), Chaldal ( e-commerce), Eduhive (education-tech), Sheba.xyz (domestic services and SME) and Intelligent Machines (software services). These startups received this fund to scale up their production, improve the quality of goods and services and develop the supply chain & marketing strategies.
The State Minister officially launched the “ShotoBorshe Shoto Asha (শত বর্ষে শত আশা)” and declared the investment of this venture capital fund.
He also shared that, through this initiative, the Government created a national entrepreneurship platform to support the startup ecosystem. He further added that Startup Bangladesh Ltd. could bridge the gap between the startups and their potentials with required capital financing. “Startups could play a crucial role in addressing the market needs, which will serve as the foundation for far-reaching consequences in the GDP’s overall growth. The tech-solutions provided by startups could support the nation’s achieving Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” said Honorable State Minister, ICT Division.
Senior Secretary, ICT Division and Chairman, board of directors of Startup Bangladesh Ltd., N M Zeaul Alam PAA, commented that the organization would develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem and connect entrepreneurs and startups to foster collaboration with all the stakeholders.
Ki-Hak Sung, Chairman, and CEO at Youngone Corp, also spoke the on occasion as a guest speaker. Sung shared that “I have been associated with Bangladesh for the past 36 years and am excited to be in this growth journey ahead”. The company is eyeing to invest USD 1 Billion over the next few years in Bangladesh.
Chris Burry, the Co CEO of US Market Access Inc., also shared his excitement and wished for Startup Bangladesh Limited all the success in the coming days. He believed that Bangladesh has already made good progress in developing the startup ecosystem and vowed to support the ecosystem through strategic coaching and networking.
Mustafa Usman Turan, the Turkish Ambassador, shared that he and his country Bangladesh see massive potential for collaboration in IT and innovation between these two countries and are keen to develop partnerships in the information technology (IT) and e-commerce sectors.
Tina F. Jabeen, Managing Director & CEO, Startup Bangladesh Ltd, said, “Among all frontier markets, Bangladesh holds the most promising opportunity for venture capital and private equity investments. The country’s English-speaking, tech-savvy young population is ready for deployment. With its focus on financial inclusion, social equity, and equal access to technology, Bangladesh is positioned to become a stellar performer in achieving sustainable development goals by leveraging disruptive technologies and innovative solutions.”
