Through Startup Bangladesh, startups have the opportunity to invest a maximum of 49% equity in the seed stage up to a maximum of 1 crore taka and in the growth stage up to a maximum of 5 crore taka per round. For this reason, the company is being provided Tk 43 crore from the project for the development of seed and growth entrepreneurs.
In this context, for the purpose of equity investment of startups, the project has given taka 7 crore, taka 10 crore and taka 6 crore, ie a total of 23 crore taka to “Startup Bangladesh Limited” in 3 steps. The project will provide the remaining Tk 20 crore to the company in the next 2021-22 financial year.
On Monday, June 14, Md. Abdur Rakib, Joint Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh and Director of the iDEA Project, handed over a check of taka 6crore. The check was received on behalf of Startup Bangladesh Limited by ABM Monirul Islam, Company Secretary.
This is how the project of the ICT department is playing a role in creating a startup ecosystem in Bangladesh in various ways. Apart from financing the startups, the project is also carrying out various activities for their training, mentoring and domestic and international networking.
The Department of Information and Communication Technology’s “Innovation and Entrepreneur Development Academy Establishment Project” has been working since 2016 to build a startup ecosystem in the country by encouraging new innovative ideas of startups.
The project has been undertaken under the far-reaching direction of Sajeeb Wazed, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Information and Communication Technology, and under the strong leadership of Zunaid Ahmed Palak, State Minister for Information and Communication Technology. So far, 179 innovative startups have been nominated for grants at the pre-seed stage through an efficient selection committee of the iDEA project.
Startup Bangladesh Limited, the country’s first fully state-owned venture capital company, was formed in March 2020 through the iDEA project to provide equity financing to seed and growth startups.
