Category: Uncategorized

Intelligent Machines is a Bangladeshi startup that uses technology to streamline and improve the operations of their clientele. But it is their unique work culture that sets them apart

A tech company with almost no rules. People come and go as they please, or not come at all. There is an unlimited leave policy (line managers need only be informed). Salaries are based solely on employee performance, not tenure or certifications.

Undergraduates are routinely hired into leadership positions with full-time salaries (by industry standards), while they are allowed to work around their academic needs. All employees have access to extensive financial reports of the company.

Concepts like these bring to mind images of a startup in a relatively more developed environment, except, these are all facts about a Bangladeshi startup.

Everything about it seems too good to be true unless one gets a chance to talk to the people working there and experience how they work first-hand, and we did.

Source: https://www.tbsnews.net

Shikho, an edtech startup based in Bangladesh, has raised US$4 million in a seed round led by Wavemaker Partners.

The investment is in addition to the US$1.3 million in seed funding that Shikho secured in July 2021 from Silicon Valley-based LearnStart, Anchorless Bangladesh, and Wavemaker.

Shikho offers academic courses for the Bangladeshi national curriculum secondary school certificate, higher secondary school certificate, and competitive university entrance exams. Its platform provides on-demand video lessons, live classes with tutors, data analytics to track performance and progress, and more.

Nearly 350,000 users across 64 districts of Bangladesh are using Shikho’s mobile platform, which launched in November 2020. Paid subscribers currently spend an average of 68 minutes on the app daily, according to the company.

Shikho was founded in 2019 by Shahir Chowdhury and Zeeshan Zakaria. The startup plans to use the fresh funding to provide courses for classes 6, 7, and 8 as well as enhance its offerings for vocational and language skill-building.

“Since August 2021, the team has grown from 60- to over 300-strong spread across four different locations [in Bangladesh], and we plan to continue strengthening several departments,” Chowdhury said in a statement.

The company told Tech in Asia that it previously raised a total of US$375,000 in two pre-seed rounds from LearnStart and a few angel investors in 2020.

In August 2021, Shikho partnered with Indian edtech platform Teachmint to use the latter’s live teaching technology.

Source: https://www.techinasia.com/

Startup Bangladesh Limited made its Vintage II investments in 8 startups Under the Shotoborshe Shoto Asha Campaign with an aim to invest 100 crores in 50 startups. A total of 17 crores is committed to 8 startups ranging from seed to growth stage.

The 8 startups are: 10 Minute School (edutech), Frontier Nutrition (food manufacture/nutrition), Hello Task (Consumer Service), iFarmer (agritech), Loop (logistics & supply chain management), Shuttle (transportation), Truck Lagbe (logistics & supply chain management), Zantrik (automotives)

Startup Bangladesh, the first and only flagship venture capital fund of the government, appointed Sami Ahmed as the new Managing Director. He is succeeding the position which remained vacant for six months now. Prior to that, Tina Jabeen was appointed as the first Managing Director & CEO for Startup Bangladesh.

Previously, Sami Ahmed was the Policy Advisor of the Leveraging ICT for Growth and Employment of the IT-ITES Industry (LICT-2) Project of the Bangladesh Computer Council, ICT Division. He was instrumental in many policy reforms for the ICT sector, including the National Blockchain Strategy and National Robot Strategy.

Prior to joining LICT, Mr. Ahmed was the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Association for Software and Information Services (BASIS). Mr. Ahmed also worked at the a2i Project of the Prime Minister’s Office where he was part of many national initiatives under the Digital Bangladesh platform and played several roles including leading the Innovation team.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

Congratulation to our portfolio Startup Moner Bondhu Founder and CEO Tawhida Shiropa, for winning the 1stRunner-Up Award on Youth Leadership section at UN Women 2021 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards.

From more than 700 applications from 20 Asia-Pacific countries from the region’s top business champions for gender equality. The Regional Ceremony highlighted the efforts that private sector organizations of all sizes and sectors are taking to promote gender equality across their value chain in alignment with the United Nations’ Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs).

To learn more about the awardees and see highlights of the ceremony click here: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org

Bangladesh’s C2B and B2B recommerce (an online platform that sells products that were previously owned) venture Swap has secured $1.25 million seed funding recently. The round of investment was led by Singapore based accelerator program Accelerating Asia. ZA Capital Advisory, Bangladesh Angels, and some other individuals also joined in this round of funding. Previously, Swap took part in the fourth cohort of Singapore-based accelerator Accelerating Asia’s 100-day program for pre-series A startups.

Swap has generated $14.5 million in gross merchandise value while serving 40,000+ customers. “We want to be Bangladesh’s most trusted platform for anyone trying to buy, sell or exchange in Bangladesh. We believe we can do that by providing our customers with as many choices as possible with the most affordable plans, from which they can pick the ideal one for them,” SWAP CEO and Co-Founder Parvez Hossain said.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/tech-startup/news/bangladeshi-recommerce-swap-raises-125-mil-seed-round-2198286?fbclid=IwAR1bXr4rjajd8N1fL_adwpZ4oLBTXWkJnGkdFvbdXiT2i53CraD9KIddj8I