Start-ups face challenges of finance and guidance, say experts

Entrepreneurs embarking on start-ups in Bangladesh face several problems, including those of access to finance and guidance, speakers at an event said yesterday.
 “We should provide support to new entrepreneurs who want to start up to achieve the target of Bangladesh becoming a middle-income country by 2021,” said Netherlands ambassador Leoni Cuelenaere at the launch of StartUp Cup 2017 at Gulshan Club in the capital yesterday.
Project director, A2i, and director general (Admin), Prime Minister's Office, Kabir Bin Anwar, project director, Bangladesh StartUp Cup 2017, Selima Hossain Allen, Sanchayan Chakraborty, Partner for Aavishkaar Frontier Fund and deputy project director, Bangladesh StartUp Cup 2017, Muhaimin Khan, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Bangladesh StartUp Cup 2017 is a countrywide competition launched by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, India-based impact investment firm Aavishkaar and BetterStories Limited.
Leoni Cuelenaere said: “What strikes me is the resilience of the people and entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. They are, despite the often challenging conditions, taking advantage of the continuing levels of economic growth to improve their lives.”
“This results in a vibrant private sector, and a vibrant private sector reaches more consumers and drives better innovation to resolve intricate problems. It is safe to say that these entrepreneurs need our support," she added.
The StartUp Cup, an international programme on entrepreneurship, began its Bangladesh journey yesterday. The organisers said a special bus would travel across the country to pick entrepreneurial talents through seven divisional events.
The StartUp Cup is a global StartUp competition taking place in over 60 countries. Its Bangladesh edition was launched at the Gulshan Club yesterday. The theme of this year’s startup cup is: ‘Nurture locally, scale nationally’.
Selima Hossain Allen said the competition would cover the seven divisions of Bangladesh, excluding Dhaka.
The StartUp Cup’s customised bus will travel across Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet, creating a platform to bring together budding entrepreneurs from across the country.
Selima Hossain Allen said the aim was to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurs in which they could collectively undertake their businesses, offering support to each other. She also said the competition would identify and coach promising entrepreneurs from Bangladesh’s rural areas.
The StartUp Cup 2017 incubator BetterStories Limited is empowering start-up entrepreneurs to take the next step towards realising their business objectives and strengthening the start-up ecosystem in those areas from where the participants will be selected. In the long term, this will lead to stronger private sector players with more access to (international) investors (and such markets), gradually transforming the rural private sector and helping it grow.
“Bangladesh has a history of entrepreneurship and we see today the emergence of a young generation that has the necessary passion and ideas to create enterprises to address market opportunities,” said Sanchayan Chakraborty.
 “We are very happy to support the StartUp Cup in Bangladesh, which, we are sure, will help develop start-up ecosystems across the country, providing entrepreneurs with the much-needed support and help them develop scalable and sustainable businesses,” he added.

 

Start-ups face challenges of finance and guidance, say experts

Entrepreneurs embarking on start-ups in Bangladesh face several problems, including those of access to finance and guidance, speakers at an event said yesterday. We should provide support to new entrepreneurs who want to start up to achieve the target of Bangladesh becoming a middle-income country by 2021, said Netherlands ambassador Leoni Cuelenaere at the launch of StartUp Cup 2017 at Gulshan Club in the capital yesterday. Project director, A2i, and director general (Admin), Prime Ministers Office, Kabir Bin Anwar, project director, Bangladesh StartUp Cup 2017, Selima Hossain Allen, Sanchayan Chakraborty, Partner for Aavishkaar Frontier Fund and deputy project director, Bangladesh StartUp Cup 2017, Muhaimin Khan, among others, spoke on the occasion. Bangladesh StartUp Cup 2017 is a countrywide competition launched by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, India-based impact investment firm Aavishkaar and BetterStories Limited. Leoni Cuelenaere said: What strikes me is the resilience of the people and entrepreneurs of Bangladesh. They are, despite the often challenging conditions, taking advantage of the continuing levels of economic growth to improve their lives. This results in a vibrant private sector, and a vibrant private sector reaches more consumers and drives better innovation to resolve intricate problems. It is safe to say that these entrepreneurs need our support, she added. The StartUp Cup, an international programme on entrepreneurship, began its Bangladesh journey yesterday. The organisers said a special bus would travel across the country to pick entrepreneurial talents through seven divisional events. The StartUp Cup is a global StartUp competition taking place in over 60 countries. Its Bangladesh edition was launched at the Gulshan Club yesterday. The theme of this years startup cup is: Nurture locally, scale nationally. Selima Hossain Allen said the competition would cover the seven divisions of Bangladesh, excluding Dhaka. The StartUp Cups customised bus will travel across Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet, creating a platform to bring together budding entrepreneurs from across the country. Selima Hossain Allen said the aim was to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurs in which they could collectively undertake their businesses, offering support to each other. She also said the competition would identify and coach promising entrepreneurs from Bangladeshs rural areas. The StartUp Cup 2017 incubator BetterStories Limited is empowering start-up entrepreneurs to take the next step towards realising their business objectives and strengthening the start-up ecosystem in those areas from where the participants will be selected. In the long term, this will lead to stronger private sector players with more access to (international) investors (and such markets), gradually transforming the rural private sector and helping it grow. Bangladesh has a history of entrepreneurship and we see today the emergence of a young generation that has the necessary passion and ideas to create enterprises to address market opportunities, said Sanchayan Chakraborty. We are very happy to support the StartUp Cup in Bangladesh, which, we are sure, will help develop start-up ecosystems across the country, providing entrepreneurs with the much-needed support and help them develop scalable and sustainable businesses, he added.