State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak has said that those who are startups today, in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), will lead the ICT industry in Bangladesh. All kinds of facilities are being provided by ICT department for startups in Bangladesh. We want to build big IT companies from these startups. That’s why we’re working to ensure the necessary mentoring and funding for startups. He said that every high-tech park in the country has been allotted one floor for startups where they are conducting activities without rent. Hi-tech park authorities are providing all kinds of utility facilities to them.
He told that while inaugurating a three-day ‘Startup Camp’ at Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center in Rajshahi on Thursday.
Free allocation is being provided for at least one floor for startups in all the establishments established across the country by Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority. A total of 151 startups on these floors are currently receiving one-year co-working space, logistics and utility support, as well as one-year in-house mentoring for startups (IMS).
In 2021 alone, about 115 startups received a total investment of more than 435 million US dollars.
As a part of this year’s mentoring, 3-day startup camps are being organized at each location. Special sessions are being conducted by local and international mentors for the first 30 startups allotted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Hi-Tech Park, Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center in Rajshahi. The three-day program will have a total of 12 sessions as well as 3 survey sessions for each startup.
Based on the information gathered from the camp, a personalized incubation program will be conducted through a 6-month curriculum as required by the startups. And later success will be calculated by measuring the growth of startups by collecting data again.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak inaugurated the startup camp by conducting the first session. The session will be conducted by public and private mentors including managing director of the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Bikarna Kumar Ghosh, Amazon Startup and Solutions Architect Md. Mahdi-uz Zaman.
Officials of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Hi-Tech Park, Rajshahi Project Director AKM Fazlul Haque, Deputy Director Mahfuzul Kabir and other officials of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park were present on the occasion. Under the overall supervision of Ashikur Rahman Rupak, Startup and Policy Consultant of Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, the camp will be held from 26th to 29th January 2022 every day from 11 am to 5:30 pm in compliance with hygiene rules.