On October 25th, Startup Bangladesh Limited, the country’s first USD 65 million flagship venture capital fund by the Government of Bangladesh, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with LightCastle Partners, a leading management consultancy firm in Bangladesh – to promote the budding startup ecosystem and attract investments in the Bangladesh startup ecosystem.
“A thriving startup ecosystem in Bangladesh will ensure that our nation continues its digital transformation journey so that we can eventually achieve our collective dream of a Smart Bangladesh. Startup Bangladesh is working relentlessly to flourish a venture capital ecosystem in the country by providing necessary support to early-stage and growth-stage startups. This is where we align with LightCastle Partners, which also aims to provide all the necessary support to enable this trend going forward.”, shared Mr. Sami Ahmed, Managing Director of Startup Bangladesh Limited.
With consistent and stable economic growth and favorable demographic dividend, Bangladesh is essentially the ‘seeding fertile ground for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)’. Bangladesh entering the 21st century on the back of the manufacturing and servicing industry, economic progression (soon to be a middle-income country and 30th largest economy), record foreign exchange reserve, transfer of commercial leaderships (intergenerational), nascent innovation/startup ecosystem, and an alternative investment rule; makes us an ideal country to test, invent and attract FDI.
Mr. Bijon Islam, Co-Founder and CEO of LightCastle Partners expressed “We are avid believers and supporters of the Bangladesh growth story, and our ambition is to catalyze more investments into the startup ecosystem to help the startups disrupt innovations, create meaningful impact and deliver the economic drive. We envision this partnership with Startup Bangladesh Limited will enable us to promote our ecosystem more accurately and powerfully to global investors and stakeholders.“
Under this partnership, Startup Bangladesh Limited and LightCastle Partners will jointly identify engagement opportunities and collaborate together to highlight the local startup ecosystem through Knowledge Products, Startup Dealbooks, Investor Roadshows, Showcasing Events, and Promotional Activities.
Apart from the partnership, LightCastle Partners is also the buy-side investment advisor of Startup Bangladesh Limited. Till now, Startup Bangladesh Limited has disbursed over USD 4 million to over 15 notable startups in the country, with the ambition to disburse BDT 100 crore to 50 startups by 2023.
Source: https://www.lightcastlebd.com/news/startup-bangladesh-limited-signs-mou-with-lightcastle-partners/