The five startups of the GP Accelerator program presented their businesses to more than 100 attendees including investors and professionals at Demo Day, on Tuesday May 31 at Grameenphone’s head office, popularly known as the GP House.
The event began with a startup introductory session called ‘Startup Bazaar’. In that session, the attendees were able to meet and chat with the top five startups from GP Accelerator team. Later, the CEO of Grameenphone, Mr. Rajeev Sethi, officially inaugurated the Demo Day.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sethi said, “I congratulate the first batch of GP Accelerator for completing the program. Grameenphone is working towards building components of digital lifestyle for its customers. I believe that young entrepreneurs of such startups could be our partner in ushering the digital era in Bangladesh by developing locally appropriate apps and services.”
In October 2015, Grameenphone partnered with SD Asia to launch the ‘GP Accelerator’ in search for five talented tech startups in Bangladesh. After a rigorous scrutiny, GP Accelerator team selected the top five startups to participate on February 7 th at the GP house. This is the first of its kind mentoring program for startups in Bangladesh where a reputed corporate entity is involved.
The top five startups (Ennovision, Sheba, Repto, Kandy, and Share) received seed funding of more than BDT 1 million each, and got the opportunity to work inside the GP House – with full logistical support. The teams were also mentored by SD Asia’s panel of start-up ecosystem experts.
Ennovision Limited is a web design company that serves as the one-stop solution for businesses looking to create a solid online presence through their websites. Kandy is an intelligent personalization mobile advertising application that puts delightful content on users’ lock screens, and time-saving tools, giving a useful lock screen experience.
Share is a carpooling application, looking to disrupt the way people commute around Dhaka city. Sheba is a service platform for solving day-to- day household problems. Repto – Education Center is an online course marketplace, where you can create courses with state-of- the-art web tools and sell your courses online.
Kazi Mahboob Hassan, Head of Transformation, said, ”GP Accelerator is a program, meant to keep energy high, investors intrigued, and build towards an unbelievable startup ecosystem in Bangladesh that sustains itself. If successful, these companies have the potential to change the way things work around us. We celebrate not just
the success part of their cycle but also the inevitable downturns. Today Grameenphone has reached another milestone to clearly demonstrate its commitment with the vision of “empowering societies.”
SD Asia arranged several mentorship sessions, pitching seasons for the top five. Every week the five startups from the Grameenphone Accelerator attended sessions on crucial business topics. Relevant experts and mentors were invited to be the guest speakers for these learning sessions.
Mustafizur Rahman Khan, CEO and Founder of SD Asia, sees the Demo Day as an opportunity for the startups. “SD Asia is very fortunate to have Grameenphone as a partner in starting the accelerator program. We believe the program has not only help the startups to become better but also help GP to understand the potential of
data-driven companies in Bangladesh. With the current program finishing, we look forward to welcoming next batch in August,” he stressed. The attendees at Demo Day were highly impressed by the business ideas and
presentation of the startups. They thanked Grameenphone and SD Asia for arranging such a program that beacons opportunities both for the startups and the investors.
Faisal Kabir, Project Head of GP Accelerator, said, “We are very happy that the first batch of GP Accelerator has graduated. While joining the program Demo Day was the end goal for the startups. We believe each startup has put more than 100% to come up to where they are today. Partnership with SD Asia has helped to ensure
startups are on track and being guided to scale up faster. We had a lot of new learning experiences and unplanned scenario management during the last four months. Hopefully, our learnings will be helpful to support the business development of GP Accelerator second batch better than before.”
GP Accelerator Demo Day was an event where Bangladeshi startups found exposure with investors, both local and international. Investors, entrepreneurs, and social media specialists from over the world attended the event and brought the Bangladesh startup ecosystem to their attention.
