Startups of Bangladesh and its Future

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2022/06/01/bangladesh-93-out-of-100-in-global-startup-index

Bangladesh: 93 out of 100 in global startup index

Israel-based international research platform StartupBlink published the report

Tribune Desk

June 1, 2022 2:19 PM

Bangladesh's position in the latest edition of the Global Startup Ecosystem Index remained unchanged at 93 among 100 countries, said a global report.

However, the country's capital city of Dhaka slipped by 63 positions to rank 326th among 1,000 cities, it also said.

Israel-based international research platform StartupBlink published the report on Tuesday.

Bangladesh has maintained its position of 93rd, showing stability, and is ranked fourth in South Asia, behind Sri Lanka in total score, said the report.

The report mentioned that Bangladeshi startups raised a significant amount of funds from local and global venture capitals.

"Last year we saw changes to the financial investment landscape in Bangladesh aimed at developing more opportunities for the local startup ecosystem," it said.

Bangladeshi startups raised funds at a rate nearly four times higher than the previous year, and the majority of this funding came from global investors.

Highlighting the country's strong economic potential, the think-tank said that the local ecosystem would require active support from the government.

Top priorities should be improving infrastructure, including internet stability. The government should also work on policy support, arrangement of corporate venture capital, and improving industry-academia collaboration to support the growth of startups, the report suggested.

Government policies and projects from the country's ICT Division, such as the IDEA Project and Startup Bangladesh Limited with $65 million, were helping improve the local startup ecosystem, it noted.

The report says, Bangladesh's startup ecosystems are a potential digital treasure in Asia, but it requires systematic country-level branding to attract more foreign investments and generate exposure.

The global report mentioned 10 Minute School, bKash and Pathao as three notable local startups.

According to the report, Bangladesh's startup ecosystem ranked 51st position for transportation, 61 for health and 67 for ecommerce and retail worldwide.

As the most popular industries in the country, there is a sample of 17 Transportation startups in Bangladesh, 13 Health startups in Bangladesh and 9 Ecommerce & Retail startups in Bangladesh, on the StartupBlink Map, it said.

In the last year's edition of the global report, Dhaka ranked 263rd out of thousand cities.

This year, Bangladesh only has Dhaka in the global top 1,000 this year after its seed ecosystems of Khulna and Chittagong dropped from the Index.

Khulna slid to 1,174th position from 977th last year, while Chittagong downgraded to 1,180 from 993 previously.

Bangladesh ranked fourth position in the South Asia region where India tops the list.

Among other neighbours, Pakistan ranked 76 and Sri Lanka 90.

The top countries in the list are the United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Singapore, Australia, France and China.

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2022/06/02/bangladeshi-tech-startup-travela-receives-pre-seed-investment

Bangladeshi tech-startup Travela receives pre-seed investment

 Travela is a short term accommodation rental platform 

 

Tribune Desk

June 2, 2022 4:43 PM

Travela, a travel-tech startup based in Dhaka received investment in the pre-seed round from renowned angel investor Mohammad Maaz. The company is now valued at Tk5 crore and growing rapidly.

According to a press release, Travela is a short-term accommodation rental platform, meaning, anyone who has a spare/unused room or apartment can list their room/apartment on the platform and users can book these spaces through the app and get a place to stay for days, weeks or even months. 

Accommodation is a major problem while travelling. If someone decides to travel somewhere, the first thing they need to sort out is a place to stay, but today's go-to solution is hotel rooms but hotels come with some problems as well. 

Hotels are not available everywhere, and room prices fluctuate often (especially in peak seasons prices go skyrocketing). Travela is a short term accommodation rental platform and anyone can list their spare/unused rooms or apartments on Travela and the users can book these places and find a place to stay. 

This way people can book a whole apartment for less than the price of the same standard hotel room, get a full functioning kitchen, can cook for themselves, and most importantly, get a home-like warm and friendly environment. 

"As a filmmaker, I had to travel all over the country. Mostly I used to stay at hotels and sometimes at my friends' houses. This made me realize that staying at houses made much more sense than staying at hotels. That is when I thought to give it a try," said Ishtiaque Ahmed, COO of Travela.

CEO of the platform, Saad Rahman said: "I always believed tourism in Bangladesh has tremendous potential. However, due to lack of infrastructure and regulations, our tourists can't get the full out of it. Travela aims to work on this problem. Our goal is to diversify tourism, democratize its components, and help local economies benefit from it."

“I would like to thank Mohammad Maaz for putting his trust in us. This investment will surely help us build a better future for our tourism industry,” he added.

Travela now operates in six cities in Bangladesh, including Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, and is in the process of expanding nationwide. 

At this moment Travela has over 15 thousand registered users all over the country. The company has around 500 properties listed on its platform, served more than 1800 bookings, and growing at an excellent rate. 

 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.newagebd.net/article/172488/startups-with-growth-potentials-to-be-allowed-to-go-public

Startups with growth potentials to be allowed to go public

BSEC frames draft rules

Mostafizur Rahman | Published: 22:29, Jun 05,2022

A file photo shows investors looking at a computer screen displaying stock prices at a brokerage house in the capital Dhaka. The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has drafted rules, allowing loss-making start-ups having high potentials of business growth to be listed on the country’s stock exchanges under the small capital platform. — New Age photo

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has drafted rules, allowing loss-making start-ups having high potentials of business growth to be listed on the country’s stock exchanges under the small capital platform.

To avail the loss-making but high potential business entity getting best price through an initial qualified investor offer (IQIO), the BSEC draft rules also allowed the intended company for determining premium price of shares on the basis of projected business growth.

The BSEC published the draft BSEC (Qualified Investor Offer by Small Capital Company) Rules, 2022 recently and sought public opinions on the rules by June 10.

The rules will repeal the BSEC (Qualified Investor Offer by Small Capital Company) Rules, 2018.

The BSEC scrapped the fixed price and book building methods for raising funds through IQIO in the new rules, and reinstated methodology in accordance with public issue rules, 2006 under which a company could float shares at par value of Tk 10 or with premium per share.

A company can make an appeal for a qualified investor offer of its securities, if its post QIO paid-up capital is at least Tk 5 crore but does not exceed Tk 50 crore.

However, the requirement might be relaxed for the start-up companies subject to prior approval of the commission, the rules said.

The general requirement is that the QIO intending company must have positive net profit after tax at least for the latest financial year.

However, the requirement could be relaxed in special cases subject to prior approval of the commission, the rules said.

BSEC executive director Rezaul Karim told New Age that the regulator kept the provision of allowing loss-making start-ups with huge business potentials on the stock market.

The commission scrapped the book building method so that it can approve justified premium price for an IQIO with consideration of company’s business, he said.

Currently, eligible investors set the cut-off price through bidding process where malfunctions and manipulations were observed, BSEC officials said.

According to the new rules, if a company wants premium, it must give justification of the premium with reference to net asset value per share at historical or current costs, earnings per share calculated on the basis of weighted average of net profit after tax for immediately preceding five years.

It can also set premium price on the basis of projected earnings-based-value per share calculated on the basis of weighted average of projected net profit after tax for the immediate next three accounting years as per the issuer’s own assessment duly certified by the auditor of the issuer.

It may also consider valuation multiple of similar stock or industry average for IQIO and all other factors with justification which have been taken into account by the issuer for fixing the premium, it said.

The premium on QIO must not exceed the amount of premium charged on shares issued (excluding the bonus shares) within immediately preceding one year.

It is the first approach from the BSEC to list loss-making concerns on the country’s capital market.

BSEC officials said that most of the startup firms were loss-making entities, but many of them had huge business potentials.

Technology companies cannot be evaluated through traditional methods, they said.

Earlier in March 2021, 12 startup firms, including Sheba.xyz and Chaldal, held a meeting with the securities regulator and expressed their interest to be listed on the market.

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/90-startups-dry-5-years-due-tax-burden-lack-cooperation-bci-442374

TBS Report

18 June, 2022, 10:10 pm

Last modified: 18 June, 2022, 10:12 pm

90% startups dry up in 5 years due to tax burden, lack of cooperation: BCI

The trade body is also in favour of providing tax facilities to all the green factories that currently enjoy only export-oriented ones

About 90% of startups dry up within just five years of their journey due mainly to excessive tax burden and lack of cooperation from the authorities concerned, believes the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries, also known as BCI.

"The high tax rates and complex tax systems make 70% startup dropouts within three years of their beginning and 90% within five years," Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of the trade body, said in a press conference organised to express their reactions on the proposed budget, at its office in the capital on Saturday. 

Thus, the BCI urged the government to simplify tax procedures and reduce the tax burden for newly-run businesses. It also called for framing a policy to disburse the special funds raised for them as soon as possible. 

"Targets [of revenue] cannot be achieved by pressuring taxpayers. If the government can create a friendly atmosphere, the number of taxpayers can be taken to 1.5 crore by this year and revenue to Tk4 lakh crore, crossing the target of Tk3.7 crore," Anwar-Ul-Alam said. 

Mentioning that their pre-budget proposals were not taken into consideration, he added that the proposed budget made the tax system more complex. 

"We don't want extra privileges, rather we want to see fair practice in tax collection, like other countries." 

The chamber of industries believes the proposed government borrowing of over Tk1 lakh crore from banks would have a negative impact on the growth of industries. 

Increasing private sector investment, generating jobs, and collecting higher amounts of revenue as proposed in the budget are very challenging, it said and called for decreasing irregularities at production, marketing and transportation levels of food amid the ongoing global crisis of the items.

Among others,  the BCI demanded keeping source tax on exports unchanged, increasing the tax-free threshold to Tk4 lakh for individuals, reducing corporate tax to 10-15% for small and medium industries, providing a five-year tax holiday for small-scale manufacturers and relieving industries from VAT on utility services.

The trade body is also in favour of providing tax facilities to all the green factories that currently enjoy only export-oriented ones, withdrawing advance tax for all the industries, digitalising the tax system and lifting minimum tax for companies.

It also urged the government to discourage people from wasting their money on luxury lighting and decoration.

BCI Vice-President Priti Chakraborty, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Vice-President Mostafa Azad Chowdhury Babu, and Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Saiful Islam, among others, were present at the event. 

[Joel Ahmed]

Edvive, an ed-tech startup in Bangladesh, which is working with multiverse language learning apps to develop an On-demand conversational platform for practicing English speaking online in a peer-to-peer method.

Edvive received a $50,000 pre-seed investment. They also received $300,000 from Microsoft and Google for in-kind support for startups. Edvive had also received a grant from the government of Bangladesh from the IDEA project.

The founder of Edvive, Mohidul Alam, is a young student who finished high school and is aspiring to study at New York University Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi.

He said, "It's hard to receive investment at such age, and I am one of the fortunate. However, this funding will be an eye-opener to the investors helping young entrepreneurs solve real-life problems. All credit goes to our amazing mentors, advisors, and humble team members who have been a part of the journey from day one."

#startup #bangladesh #edtech

 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/tech-startup-shopup-bags-63m-series-b4-funding-447910

TBS Report

27 June, 2022, 10:55 am

Last modified: 27 June, 2022, 05:13 pm

Tech startup ShopUp bags $65m in Series B4 funding

Bangladesh business-to-business (B2B) commerce startup ShopUp has raised $65 million in Series B4 funding from Valar Ventures and Flourish Ventures, according to official data seen by DealStreetAsia.

The shares are being issued at about $56 apiece, same as the company's Series B3 round, data of Singapore's Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) show.

ACRA filings only reflect equity funding received so far in a round, and the overall round could be bigger or have other components such as debt, reports Nikkei Asia.

The startup won a $34 million Series B extension round in January 2022, following its Series B round where they won $75 million in September 2021. 

Since then, the company has grown four times, and the existing investors are doubling down with this follow-up round, reads a press release from ShopUp.

Sequoia Capital India and Flourish Ventures co-led ShopUp's $22.5m Series A round.

Founded in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka in 2016 by Afeef Zubaer Zaman, Siffat Sarwar and Ataur Rahim Chowdhury, ShopUp provides B2B services such as sourcing, logistics and financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises through its mobile-first digital platform and last-mile logistics service RedX.

Its financial services product gives small shops access to digital credit through partnerships with local financial institutions.

ShopUp's B2B commerce app, Mokam, also helps mom-and-pop shops by giving them access to the nation's largest catalog of products with 24-hour doorstep delivery -- all via a single app.

Mokam has partnered with the country's largest manufacturers, producers and distributors to ensure what it says is the best pricing for these products.

Additionally, store owners can obtain items on credit by accessing ShopUp's "buy now, pay later" function in the app.

The startup opened an office in India after it merged with Bengaluru-based e-commerce platform Voonik in February 2020.

Bangladesh is home to one of the most fragmented retail markets in Asia, with 98% of all retail consumption done through 4.5 million small shops across the country, ShopUp said earlier.

The shops struggle daily when procuring goods from multiple suppliers, distributors and wholesalers.

In an interview with DealStreetAsia in October, Zaman said his company was operationally profitable -- earning money on every transaction -- because it offers multiple services to each customer.

In a September news release, the company also said that revenue grew by 13 times in the previous 12 months, while total shipments were up 11 times.

[Joel Ahmed]

'Adeffi Ltd,' the parent company of advertising-tech startup 'Sticker Driver,' has added a new dimension to Bangladesh's advertising industry and raised $200,000 in pre-seed funding.

With their desire to transform outdoor advertising in the nation, they have been successful in attracting investors from the Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN). Adeffi stands for "advertisement efficiency," and as the name implies, their entire team is focused on bringing efficiencies to the fragmented outdoor advertising market.

Adeffi (Sticker Driver), which got its start in a small garage, today works with well-known companies including ACI, Bombay Sweets, Square, Savlon, Domino's pizza, Digital Health, and Xiaomi, to mention a few. Adeffi currently operates in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet, three of Bangladesh's biggest cities, with intentions to expand nationwide.

 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://bangla.thedailystar.net/তারুণ্য/থাইল্যান্ড-যাচ্ছেন-সিডস-ফর-দ্য-ফিউচার-২০২২-বাংলাদেশ-জয়ী-৯-শিক্ষার্থী-367036

থাইল্যান্ড যাচ্ছেন ‘সিডস ফর দ্য ফিউচার ২০২২ বাংলাদেশ’ জয়ী ৯ শিক্ষার্থী

স্টার অনলাইন রিপোর্ট

রোববার, জুলাই ৩, ২০২২ ০৯:৩৮ অপরাহ্ন

'সিডস ফর দ্য ফিউচার ২০২২ বাংলাদেশের' শীর্ষ ৯ শিক্ষার্থীর নাম ঘোষণা করেছে হুয়াওয়ে। আয়োজনের পরবর্তী রাউন্ডে অংশ নিতে আগামী মাসে বিজয়ী এই ৯ শিক্ষার্থী থাইল্যান্ড যাবেন।

রাজধানীর বনানীর হোটেল শেরাটনে আয়োজিত এক অনুষ্ঠানে আজ রোববার জয়ীদের নাম ঘোষণা করা হয়।  

এ ৯ জন হলেন- বুয়েটের গোলাম মাহমুদ সামদানী, ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের শাদমিন সুলতানা, রুয়েটের মাদিহা বিনতে জাকির ও মেহরিন তাবাসসুম, আইইউটির ওয়াসিফা রহমান রেশমি ও মো. সুমিত হাসান, চুয়েটের মোহাম্মদ ইফতেখার ইবনে জালাল এবং ব্র্যাক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের লাজিব শারার শায়ক ও মোহসিনা তাজ।

চলতি বছর এই প্রোগ্রামে অংশ নেওয়া ১ হাজার শিক্ষার্থীর মধ্যে ৩০ জন শিক্ষার্থী দ্বিতীয় রাউন্ডের জন্য নির্বাচিত হন। বিভিন্ন পরীক্ষার ফলাফলের ভিত্তিতে তৃতীয় রাউন্ড তথা বাংলাদেশের ফাইনাল রাউন্ডে শীর্ষ ৯ শিক্ষার্থীকে বাছাই করা হয়। থাইল্যান্ডে এই প্রোগ্রামের পরবর্তী রাউন্ড অনুষ্ঠিত হবে, যেখানে শিক্ষার্থীরা বিভিন্ন প্রশিক্ষণ গ্রহণ করবেন এবং তাদের প্রোজেক্ট আইডিয়া এবং সাবমিশনের মাধ্যমে অন্যদের সঙ্গে  প্রতিযোগিতায় অংশ নেবেন।

থাইল্যান্ড রাউন্ডের বিজয়ীরা 'টেক ফর গুড অ্যাকসেলারেটর ক্যাম্প' এ অংশ নিতে সিঙ্গাপুর যাবেন। প্রোগ্রাম শেষে চ্যাম্পিয়নরা পাবেন হুয়াওয়ে মেটবুক ল্যাপটপ।         

অনুষ্ঠানে প্রধান অতিথি হিসেবে উপস্থিত ছিলেন ডাক ও টেলিযোগাযোগ মন্ত্রী মোস্তাফা জব্বার। বিশেষ অতিথি ছিলেন ঢাকায় চীনা দূতাবাসের কালচারাল কাউন্সেলর ইউ লিওয়েন, বাংলাদেশে ইউনেস্কোর হেড অফ অফিস ও প্রতিনিধি বিয়াট্রিস কালদুন এবং ইসলামিক ইউনিভার্সিটি অফ টেকনোলজির উপাচার্য প্রফেসর ড. মোহাম্মদ রফিকুল ইসলাম।

এ ছাড়া, হুয়াওয়ে টেকনোলজিস (বাংলাদেশ) লিমিটেডের বোর্ড মেম্বার জেসন লি অনুষ্ঠানে উপস্থিত ছিলেন।

ডাক ও টেলিযোগাযোগ মন্ত্রী মোস্তাফা জব্বার বলেন, 'আমাদের স্টেমের বিষয়গুলোতে আরও বেশি জ্ঞান অর্জন করতে হবে এবং আমাদের পরবর্তী প্রজন্মকে যথাযথ আইসিটি জ্ঞান প্রদান করতে হবে। এ ধরনের প্রোগ্রামের মাধ্যমে আমরা এই লক্ষ্য পূরণে এগিয়ে যাচ্ছি। সিডস ফর দ্য ফিউচার আমার কাছে অত্যন্ত অনুপ্রেরণাদায়ক বলে মনে হয়।'

বাংলাদেশে ইউনেস্কোর হেড অব অফিস ও প্রতিনিধি বিয়াট্রিস কালদুন বলেন, 'হুয়াওয়ে তরুণদের শেখার ও অন্যদের শিখতে উৎসাহিত করার চমৎকার সুযোগ তৈরি করছে। আমি সত্যিই বিশ্বাস করি যে, এই প্রোগ্রামে অংশগ্রহণের মাধ্যমে শিক্ষার্থীরা যা শিখবে তা তাদের ভবিষ্যতে এগিয়ে যেতে সাহায্য করবে, যা পরবর্তীতে সমাজ ও দেশের প্রবৃদ্ধিতে ইতিবাচক ভূমিকা রাখবে।"

অনুষ্ঠানে বাংলাদেশে নিযুক্ত চীনা দূতাবাসের কালচারাল কাউন্সেলর ইউ লিয়েন বলেন, 'ইকোসিস্টেমের বিকাশে সম্মিলিত প্রচেষ্টা ও ক্ষমতায়নের ওপর গুরুত্বারোপ করে হুয়াওয়ে। যেহেতু তরুণরা এ ইকোসিস্টেমের গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অংশ, তাই বিশ্বজুড়ে তরুণদের ডিজিটাল দক্ষতা বিকাশের জন্য হুয়াওয়ে প্রতিশ্রুতিবদ্ধ।'

হুয়াওয়ে টেকনোলজিস (বাংলাদেশ) লিমিটেডের বোর্ড মেম্বার জেসন লি বলেন, 'আইসিটি খাতের মেধাবীদের এগিয়ে নিয়ে যাওয়ার লক্ষ্যে একটি উন্নত ইকোসিস্টেম গড়ে তুলতে হুয়াওয়ে নিরলস প্রচেষ্টা চালিয়ে যাচ্ছে। মেধাবী তরুণদের দক্ষতা বৃদ্ধিতে বিশ্বব্যাপী সিডস ফর দ্য ফিউচার প্রোগ্রামে ১৫০ মিলিয়ন মার্কিন ডলার বিনিয়োগ করার পরিকল্পনা করেছে হুয়াওয়ে।'

'সিডস ফর দ্য ফিউচার' হুয়াওয়ের একটি উদ্যোগ, যা ২০০৮ সালে থাইল্যান্ডে বৈশ্বিকভাবে চালু হয়। এখন পর্যন্ত এই প্রোগ্রামটি বিশ্বের ১৩৭টি দেশে অনুষ্ঠিত হয়েছে এবং বিশ্বের প্রায় ১২ হাজার শিক্ষার্থী ও ৫ শতাধিক বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় এই উদ্যোগের মাধ্যমে উপকৃত হয়েছে।

 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/onethread-first-home-grown-bangladeshi-project-management-software-465178

Sabyasachi Karmaker

26 July, 2022, 11:10 am

Last modified: 26 July, 2022, 02:23 pm

Onethread: The first home-grown Bangladeshi project management software

Dedicated and customised project management softwares are costly. Onethread, a Bangladeshi startup, provides the same service for a fraction of the cost

 

If you are a project lead or work in project-based tasks in any big business company, chances are you are using internationally-known project management solutions such as Asana, Trello, Microsoft Teams, etc. 

On the flipside, if you are someone who works at a SME or small company, you probably cannot afford these project management solution tools due to their high monthly subscription fees.

However, all hope is not lost – not anymore at least. A Bangladeshi project management tool has come to your rescue. This local startup asks for a fraction of what global market leaders in the category charge, but offers all the top solutions.

Onethread is a Bangladeshi startup that offers a smooth multi-team project management tool for effective team collaboration; and a team of three Bangladeshi tech enthusiasts has built it.

Project management tools refer to a collection of planning, tracking and administrative features that are intended to assist project teams in order to meet the objectives of the projects within the allotted time. It helps members of the team interact more effectively and speeds up the process.

Some of the features include dashboards, gantt charts (commonly used in project management and one of the most popular and useful ways of showing tasks or events displayed against time), scheduling system, timesheets, project baselines, communication plan, data analytics, real-time reporting, invoicing features, etc. 

Traditionally, much of these can be done on Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. However, as projects get complicated, a dedicated software is often needed in big companies.

The startup is first of its kind in Bangladesh. In an interview with The Business Standard, CEO and co-founder Erfanul Rashik shared his company's journey. 

"Onethread is a simple project management solution. Companies in our market have been dependent on WhatsApp/Google sheets, etc to manage work. 

Onethread helps you organise all your work, put everything in one platform and gives you features for communication and file sharing. We provide a simpler alternative to international solutions while making it the most affordable solution," said Erfanul Rashik. 

The development of the startup took over three years as most team members worked on a part-time basis before it officially launched in July 2021. Rashik's vision for the startup is to help solve a basic problem among local businesses.

"My family business is in the RMG sector, so I saw first-hand how unstructured internal communication is. We looked into the market and saw there are only a few solutions but when we talked to different businesses, we realised that they can't implement solutions because of the complexity and price. 

So we figured if we can provide a simple solution at an affordable price, we can disrupt the market," said Rashik. 

So far, Onethread has been working with startups, SMEs and agencies. They are in talks with a few corporations as they are looking to provide slightly customised solutions to them.

"We have a full fledged task management solution; now adding project management features as well. We are open to new opportunities," added Rashik.

Over a short period of time, Onethread has gained considerable traction; not only from Bangladesh but also from global audiences. Rashik said that there are over 1,000 registered users on the platform. And, almost 30% of their user base is outside Bangladesh.

"We have 12+ paying companies in our portfolio already in Bangladesh and it's growing exponentially," said the CEO, adding "We are now talking to a few major enterprises who can easily help take our user base up to 2,000. We are also planning on a major launch event to attract overseas attention as well."

At this stage they have no local competition. The closest competition is their target group's dependency on WhatsApp/Google Sheets. 

Onethread targets small enterprises as well as big businesses who use international products and "it is an intuitive and most affordable [project management tool available in Bangladesh]" reiterated Rashik. 

Rashik completed his graduation from BUET. After that, he completed MBA from DU-IBA. Now he looks after sales, marketing and investment. Co-founder Robat Das Orvi, a CSE graduate from BRAC, leads the tech team. The other co-founder, Seeam Shahid Noor – graduated from Harvard and currently in IBM – looks after the product team on a part time basis.

Onethread's team comprises 13 members, all of whom work completely remotely. Being remote helps them to onboard talent from anywhere and "we have teammates beyond Dhaka as well," according to Rashik.

Differentiating Onethread from global competitors

But how does it differ from global competitors? 

"We are a small team of Bangladeshis. We emphasise on the most basic tools. Many of the well-established competitors offer lots of options. As a result, their expenses go up. 

On the other hand, as we mainly focused on the local market, our first target was to familiarise people with this software and then gradually roll out newer updates," replied Rashik. 

Onethread has three pricing plans. For a team of up to five users, they can use the software for free. It costs only $1.5 monthly for a team of 5-60. And for teams of over 60 users (or larger), they provide custom solutions and charge accordingly.  As the startup always emphasises on localization, they have also made the tool available in Bangla language.

The software can be used from multiple devices – through computer browsers or smartphones. Team members can collaborate on tasks and communicate with each other in real-time as it also has an integrated messaging system.

Erfanul Rashik, CEO and co-founder, Onethread. Illustration: TBS

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.thedailystar.net/tech-startup/news/sharetrip-secures-bdt-5-crore-investment-startup-bangladesh-3090576

ShareTrip secures BDT 5 Crore investment from Startup Bangladesh

Toggle Desk

Mon Aug 8, 2022 12:26 PM Last update on: Mon Aug 8, 2022 05:51 PM

ShareTrip secures BDT 5 Crore investment from Startup Bangladesh.

Local travel-tech startup ShareTrip has secured an investment of BDT 5 Crore from govt owned VC Startup Bangladesh. The announcement was made during ShareTrip's third anniversary at the Hotel Sheraton, Dhaka.

Startup Bangladesh Managing Director Sami Ahmed and Sharetrip Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sadia Haque signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. State Minister of ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak and several top brasses of the government were present during the signing. 

ShareTrip has served more than 500k customers across the country. 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.thedailystar.net/tech-startup/news/microsoft-startups-founders-hub-launched-bangladesh-3087101

Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub launched in Bangladesh

Toggle Desk

Wed Aug 3, 2022 11:24 PM Last update on: Wed Aug 3, 2022 11:37 PM

Sook Hoon Cheah, General Manager, Southeast Asia New Markets, Microsoft on stage during the event. Picture: Collected

Microsoft has recently launched its Startups Founders Hub in Bangladesh through a launching ceremony at Sheraton Dhaka in the capital.

The Startups Founders Hub aims to support and strengthen Bangladeshi startups with access to a wide resource pool for technological aid, opportunities for mentorship and working with skilled industry experts.

Md Yousup Faruqu, Managing Director of Bangladesh at Microsoft speaking to the participants during the Startups Founders Hub event. Picture: Collected.

The startups can launch their ideas with up to $150,000 in free Azure credits.

With the right tools and support from Microsoft, startups can now grow and accelerate Bangladesh's future as an engine for global innovation, while driving societal progress.

According to Microsoft, the technology will help turn lifelong passions of mission-driven enterprises into reality with access to the regional ecosystem pool and deliver greater positive change for people in Bangladesh.

 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.thedailystar.net/tech-startup/news/palki-affordable-locally-assembled-electric-vehicle-its-way-3103341

Palki: An affordable locally assembled Electric Vehicle on its way

Shahriar Rahman

Fri Aug 26, 2022 12:30 AM Last update on: Fri Aug 26, 2022 08:59 PM

 

In today's world, many countries are now changing lanes and embracing electric vehicles (EVs). In the past decade, we have seen a tectonic shift in the automotive industry - we have seen brands like Tesla, Rivian and NIO take off. We have also seen conventional automakers like Volvo, GM, Nissan and Ford fast-track their EV product line. Globally, electric vehicle sales figures have soared to a record high. Countries like Norway, Germany and Netherlands have adopted electric vehicles swiftly. Even in China, the electric car market own consists of 28% now, which is a massive pie compared to just five years back. 

In Bangladesh, where the automotive assembly industry is in its infancy, a local startup wants to change the scene. Challenging the status quo, Palki Motors, a homegrown startup, is planning to launch their very own locally assembled electric vehicle. 

Palki's flagship product is a four-door & four-wheel battery-swappable electric vehicle. The startup is on the verge of accepting pre-orders for their vehicles. Starting at a price Tk. 4.99 lakh, Palki has already generated quite a buzz amongst people seeking an affordable mode of transportation especially out of the capital. 

According to Mustafa Al Momin, Co-founder & CEO of Palki Motors, Palki has already gotten 600+ signups for their first car. 

Palki is right now undergoing assembly of their prototype vehicles which are based and modelled after generic Chinese electric vehicles. Palki Motors have already established an assembly shed in Sector 12 of Uttara and are nearly a couple of weeks away from a fully locally assembled prototype. Momin informed that 40% of the parts are made in Bangladesh while the rest of them are being imported from China and Taiwan for local assembly. 

When asked how he got the idea of coming up with this venture, Momin, a Grameenphone Accelerator Graduate, explained that it all started when he was looking for a reasonably cheap second-hand car. "Being an electrical engineer and an entrepreneur, I felt this was a huge addressable market. As electric vehicles do not need an engine, which is the most complex bit in any vehicle, it would be much more cost-effective and efficient to assemble an electric vehicle locally", Momin exclaimed. Momin previously worked with the BRAC University in 2013 as a student on their electric car project. After post-graduation in electrical engineering from the US, he came back and started working on CWork, a startup hatched out of Grameenphone's accelerator program. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Momin could not make it sustainable and hence had to close it down. Nonetheless, he is optimistic that his locally electric vehicles will be able to take off as Bangladesh has a huge untapped market for cost-efficient electric swappable battery-based vehicles. In this particular business model, electric vehicles, instead of charging, will swap a drained battery, with a new one. Momin and his team believes, with enough active sign-ups, this model will catch on peripheries where improperly engineered vehicles are already running. 

Palki comes with a 60V 100Ah lead acid battery which offers a driving range of up to 150 kilometres on a single charge. To fully charge its battery array, it takes around 6-8 hours. The service life of the lead acid battery is expected to be around 36,000+ kilometres. Meaning, with the changing of the battery, it will cost around Tk. 1.73 per kilometre, claimed Momin. 

He also said that as in Bangladesh vehicles are heavily taxed and soaring fuel prices are impacting the transportation industry, a good alternative would be locally assembled electric vehicles. 

So far Momin and his co-founders have invested around Tk. 26 lakhs in this project and expect to deliver the first finished product by this year. When asked whether this car would be street-legal, Momin informed that currently, Palki's electric vehicles are undergoing testing at Bangladesh Roads & Transportation Authority (BRTA) and Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology. Palkhi has already met more than 40% of the local standards, according to Momin. As the output of the motor of the electric vehicle is relatively low and the high speed of the vehicle is under 60 km/h, regulations are relatively lax. 

Once Palki gets the necessary approval, the venture plans to start delivering the first batch by the end of January 2023. The estimated time to deliver a single vehicle after pre-order is around 50-60 days. To pre-order, one must pay 10% of the price. Palki and its team expect their vehicles will be able to make a significant impact in Bangladesh's transportation industry.

[Joel Ahmed]

Bangladeshi edtech startup ‘Shikho’ has made it to “Forbes Asia 100 to watch 2022” list.

Shikho was founded in 2019 with the goal of revolutionizing learning in Bangladesh by creating a hyper-localized digital learning ecosystem.

The startup's mission is to democratize access to high-quality education for students across the country. They have raised $5.6 million in funding since their inception – the most for any EdTech in the country – from international venture investors from Silicon Valley and Singapore. In only 20 months, Shikho's Learning App has surpassed 600,000 downloads on the Google Play Store.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasiateam/2022/08/29/forbes-asia-100-to-watch-2022/?sh=630b8fbedf33

 

[Joel Ahmed]

https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/countrys-first-mobile-game-developer-company-took-root-programming-book-bought

Ariful Islam Mithu

04 September, 2022, 09:00 am

Last modified: 04 September, 2022, 08:57 am

The country’s first mobile game developer company took root from a programming book bought from Nilkhet

Tanveer Ahmed’s Free Pixel Games Ltd is the first mobile game development studio in Bangladesh born out of a love for computers and a failed outsourcing venture

 

Tanveer Ahmed posed for a photo at his Banani office with the company's flagship mobile game Dragon Village recently. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

It was 1998. Tanveer Ahmed was a second-year student at Notre Dame College. The college had just introduced a new subject - Computer Science, besides Statistics and Biology, as an optional subject. He did not have much idea about the new subject, but decided to go with it anyway. 

A month later he heard that a computer fair would be held in the city. 

"I decided that I would participate in the fair with a project by any means. But I neither had programming skills nor a personal computer," said Tanveer Ahmed, managing director of Free Pixel Games Ltd, the country's first mobile game developer company, sitting at his Banani office.  The company creates mobile games that are played in the US, Australia and Europe.
 
A thought crossed his mind. One of his uncles owned a second-hand computer hardware store - Well-done Computers - in Kamlapur. He borrowed a computer for a month from his uncle. However, he did not have coding skills so he went to Nilkhet looking for a book on coding.

"I bought a book on programming- Visual Java++, from a footpath shop and studied it for a whole month. That helped me develop a dynamic website," said the 40-year-old Tanveer who set up Free Pixel Games Ltd in 2009, a time when only a handful of people in Bangladesh used smartphones. "My only target was to participate in the fair." 

Tanveer, along with others, participated and exhibited his project in the fair. To his surprise, his website project won a prize. Six months later his father bought him his first personal computer. He soon became familiar with softwares and then entered into the outsourcing industry. 

The creation of Free Pixel Games Ltd

"My liking for software grew with time. Nonetheless, I never wanted to be a software engineer, but a software businessman," said Tanveer. 

He made a profile on E-lance in 2001, a freelancing website. He started outsourcing work to other freelancers through his profile. By that time he had already enrolled with the prestigious business school, IBA, under Dhaka University. Through outsourcing, he began earning in dollars.

"After my graduation in 2004, my father wanted me to look after our family business in the textile industry. It was a local venture but my dream was to venture into the international market," said Tanveer. He took up an internship at a textile mill as well, but that did not settle well with him.

A year later, he set up an office for outsourcing, ITIW with a small team and only eight computers. The new company saw booming business. Within three years, the number of employees rose to 45 from 8.

In 2008, as the whole world fell into an economic recession, the company's profit began shrinking. Providing salaries to 45 employees was exhausting the company's savings. Many employees were also quitting for better options.

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

"Clients were hesitant to give us work as they were suffering from the recession as well," said Tanveer. That spurred Tanveer to come up with their own product, instead of taking part in the work processes of others. 

"We started searching for emerging sectors on E-lance again," he added. He noticed that the mobile operating system iOS had recently begun and was booming. His company developed its first mobile app for iOS in 2009 for an overseas company. People were dependent on website-dependent softwares until iOS came into view. 

They decided to work on mobile phone applications from that point onward.

The game theory 

In the same year, Tanveer moved from developing mobile applications to mobile games. Only a handful of people were using smartphones in Bangladesh and Apple's App Store began to gain popularity. They began looking for a programming language with which to make mobile games and found that they needed a game engine for that. They discovered a game engine called Cocos2d. 

"Games are easier to understand and have a universal appeal. On the other hand, apps are a utility," said Tanveer, who is also fond of playing games.

"Super Mario is being played in Bangladesh, USA and Japan. It does not need any customisation. But applications do, based on the country it is used in," said Tanveer. "A utility app in Japan will not be the same in the USA." 

Tanveer bought Cocos2d from its developer who lived in Germany for $50.

"We developed some games using the engine and released some games in 2009," said Tanveer. "In just two to three months, we noticed that we were earning more than we could with E-lancer! So we moved our focus on game development completely." 

Free Pixel Games is still using Cocos2d to develop a few of their games.

In 2010, his passion for software/game development took him to Apple's developer conference, Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), in San Francisco where Steve Jobs was presenting. He was the only Bangladeshi among the around 2,000 people who attended the conference.

Till date Free Pixel Games Ltd has developed and launched 15 international standard games in Google Play and Apple Store like Dragon Valley [their most popular mobile game], Halloween World and Dino Village Tycoon, etc. The export-oriented mobile developer company mainly develops role-play and racing games.

"It takes us between 6 months to 12 years to develop a single game," Tanveer said. "And there are around 100 prototypes behind a single successful game," he added.

The company now employs around 80 employees with a salary between Tk25,000 to Tk1.5 lakh. The average salary is  Tk60,000.

 

Photo: Noor-A-Alam

Games are categorised on their complexity and playtime. Categories include hyper-casual, causal, Mid-Core and Hard-Core games. The company is developing games which fall between Casual and Mid-core categories. However, Mid-core games require courage to develop, according to Tanveer.

Most of the revenue the company generates is from the USA, EU, Australia and New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The mobile game developing industry in Bangladesh is in its initial stage, Tanveer said.

"The game development industry is a high-risk and high-return industry around the world," said Tanveer Ahmed. However, Tanveer's future plan is to set up a video editing and animation studio, develop an e-learning platform and scale up the mobile game business further.