In the past few years, the startup ecosystem in Bangladesh has changed for the better and continues to offer tremendous hope. In seed stage investment, the overall deal flow has increased and a growing number of Angel investors have become involved. Local investors intent in the initial days toward fast monetisation and company profitability. But that has changed as more people h have joined in with a long-term view of optimism on returns on investment.
The ICT ministry issued grants to approximately 40 startups and ideas. Grocery e-commerce company, Chaldaal, raised US$ 5.5 dollars from IFC and IDLC finance. This is a good sign that if it works, more financial institutions will be able to start funding.
Aavishkaar, named Impact Fund from India invested abound US$ 4.2 million in B2B e-commerce, Sindabad. Bangladeshi first local venture investment fund, BD Venture invested in 4 start-ups namely Handy Mama, C-work, Gaze and Beetles. They also invested in the second round of their investment in Esoshikhi,that is an edu tech platform, along with other Angel Investors. Here the government has allocated Tk 1 billion in the budget for building startups. Modalities of using that fund, however, have yet to be explained. The efforts by the ICT Ministryto create a venture capital firm have recently received a cabinet nod.
Grameenphone has updated it's accelerator programme as GP Accelerator which has two parts: Pre-Accelerator and Accelerator. Pre-Accelerator is 8 week long programme which provides training and mentorship to validate their idea and help to go to the market. Telecom company Robi revamped its Accelerator programme is r-venture. Another telecom company banglalink arranges Banglalink IT incubator as their startup programme from their end.
There is a lot of pressure on founders due to longer investment cycles. To keep things running, many are often forced to sell additional equity or take out loan from existing investors. Furthermore, the situation has aggravated due to a limited number of VCs in the country. As a result, local startups are increasingly looking outwards to access VC money by either listing in USA or Singapore. In fact, Chaldal, Shohoz, Pathao, Deligram etc.
Since 2019, Bangladesh has become very lucrative to international investors whose risk appetites higher than the ones investing in Singapore. They see Bangladesh as frontier market where deals are lot cheaper when compared to other emerging markets, especially India. The ride-sharing platform Pathao can be partially credited for bringing Bangladesh in the radar of regional VCs.
Lists of the startups that are at the top investment in Bangladesh have been listed below.
* Sheba.xyz, a one stop solution for different services like electrical, plumbing, cleaning, laundry, pest control, car servicing, computer or mobile service, lift/generator maintenance and much more.
* Avijatrik Tourism has been building the Airbnb of Bangladesh.
* Intelligent Machines is a technology studio based in Bangladesh. They build customised AI and analytics models from scratch as services for organizations.
* The parking spaces marketplace, Parking Koi connects parking seekers with unused parking spaces.
* cWork Microjob Limited is a blockchain based crowd sourced micro job platform.
* Chaldal.com is an online grocery platform which currently stocks more than 4000 products in its two warehouses and delivers goods within an hour.
w Beetles Cyber Security Ltd. is a crowd sourced penetration testing platform designed to build a trusted, hacker-centric approach to protect any organization's digital attack surface.
* ShopUp is a one stop solution platform for micro entrepreneurs who sell products via online and offline channels.
* ShareTrip formerly known as Travel Booking Bd is country's first and leading online travel aggregator.
* Zantrik is on-demand automotive services platform as well as the first-ever roadside assistance in terms of car repairing in Bangladesh..
* EshoShikhi Limited an EDTECH Startup is focused on easy access to education through quality Bangla Language Content.
* Sindabad aiming to build a frictionless experience for B2B customers and a platform for office needs.
* eCourier is an e-Commerce based logistics company.
* Augmedix is a medical note documentation startup helping natural clinician-patient conversation into medical documentation.
* Gowala is a consumer dairy tech company.
* Specializing in patient prescription management, hospital management and chamber management, Doctorkoi is a prescription management software that helps Doctors to generate prescriptions with a few mouse clicks.
w Jatri is a ticketing app that aims to address the public bus transportation challenges in Dhaka.
* An online platform connecting truck owners/drivers and shippers is Truck Lagbe.
* Deligram is a channel e-Commerce startup aiming to operate at the intersection of online and offline and integrate the power of digital commerce with offline retail by enabling existing corner shops in neighborhoods to act as their collection points.
* Shohoz, is a popular online ticketing, ride-hailing and food delivery startup
* Hellotask is a service providing company providing on demand maid service in Bangladesh. They have connected verified maids with users through mobile application.
* Bongo is the first and biggest streaming video on demand service in Bangladesh.
* Kludio asia is a food tech startup based in Dhaka. They are Bangladesh's first multi brand cloud kitchen.
* HandyMamais an online maintenance services platform for the households and businesses. They are the largest, branded network for local service professionals.
* YSI Bangla Limited is a Bangla learning app and website with more than 700 students enrolled in their courses.
PriyoShop.com is an eCommerce site, providing fast delivery of quality products through their own delivery service.
