Afeef Zaman, co-founder of Bangladesh ShopUp, Morin Talukder, co-founder of Pikabu and Sonia Bashir Kabir, managing director of SBK Tech Ventures have been included in the list of 100 Global Tech Changemakers.
Global non-profit publication Rest of the World has made this list. The published list summarizes the list of tech leaders, inventors and investors as well as activists whose efforts have a direct impact on the world’s most populous countries other than the Silicon Valley and Western world.
As a changemaker, Afeef Zaman has not only been described as an ‘easy way’ to bring informal business into the mainstream of the economy through digital access; He has also been called a ‘radical optimist’.
On the other hand, after selling its established e-Hat Bazaar online platform, Morin Talukder has developed ‘Pikabu’ online shop as the most ‘trusted platform’ in Bangladesh with ‘Customer Membership’ and ‘Monthly Payment’ plans for shoppers.
Sonia Bashir Kabir‘s contribution to the development of rural digital development has been highlighted in the context of her long career by creating D-Money, Soulshare and Prava Health and financing new entrepreneurs.
This is the second time that Rest of the World has published this list. In this year’s publication, 15 changemakers from South Asia have been mentioned in the list based on the region. The list started with the name of Vanuka Harischandra, co-founder of Serge Global Open Source Fact Checking Platform Watchdock, a Sri Lankan digital media and consulting firm.
However, the highest number of changemakers in the list is from India. They are: Apar Gupta, Executive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation; Sachin Bangshal, Co-Founder, Fintech Startup Navi Technologies; Mukesh Bangshal, President, Tata Digital; Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-Founder, Microblogging Platform KU; Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India; Monica Shergill, Netflix India’s Vice President for Content; and Arghya Sengupta, Founder of Digital Regulation Expert VD Center for Legal Policy in India.
From Pakistan, Kalsum Lakhani, founder of the country’s Invest to Innovate startup, and Jehan Ara, founder of Catalyst Lab are also on the list.
Biswas Dhakal, president of F1 Soft International, a leading fintech company has been listed as the only changemaker from Nepal.