Startup Bangladesh Limited awarded the country’s best startups in eight categories at the first summit itself. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the prizes to the winners on the opening day of the two-day Bangladesh Startup Summit 2023. The winners received the award in the presence of the ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak, ICT Secretary Samsul Arefin and Startup Bangladesh Limited Managing Director Sami Ahmed.
First, BIG 2023 joint Champion Marco Polo AI Chairman Tasfia Tajbin and Fabric Lagbe Managing Director Nazmul Islam received a check of a crore taka from the Prime Minister.
Afif Zubair Zaman, founder and CEO of ShopUp, received the award for attracting investment. Pathao CEO Fahim Ahmed was awarded as the best employer startup.
On the other hand, bKash founder Kamal Qadir received the Fintech Pioneer’ Award for playing a pioneering role in Bangladesh’s fintech sector.
Ayman Sadiq, founder of Ten Minute School, was also honored as the best Edtech startup and Van Guen, Resident Representative for UNDP YouthCo-Lab in the Collaboration Award category.
Besides, the founder and managing director of Nagad Limited, Tanveer A. Mishuk, received the first Bangladesh Startup Award as the country’s fastest ‘unicorn’ startup or 10,000 crore company.
Similarly, Sonia Bashir Kabir, founder of SBK Tech Venture, received the Genderlens Investment Award and Funded Next CEO Syed Abdur Razzaq received the Boost Wrapping Award.