Startup Bangladesh gets Tk43 cr from ICT division

The Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) project under the ICT Division provided Tk43 crore to the Startup Bangladesh Limited, state-owned venture capital company, recently.

iDEA project has been working since 2016 to create a startup ecosystem in Bangladesh by encouraging new innovative ideas of startups, said a press release.

Startup Bangladesh Limited will get Tk43 crore from the iDEA project for the development of seed and growth level entrepreneurs. In this context, for the equity investment of startups, the iDEA project has provided Tk7 crores, Tk10 crore and Tk6 crore in 3 steps. The project will provide the remaining Tk 20 crore to the company in the next 2021-22 financial year.

The project director and joint secretary of iDEA project, Abdur Rakib, handed over a cheque of Tk6 crore on the 14 June to Startup Bangladesh Ltd at the office of iDEA project of ICT Tower in Agargaon. ABM Monirul Islam, company secretary of Startup Bangladesh Ltd received the cheque on behalf of his organisation.

With the able guidance of Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed and the leadership of State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, the project has undertaken in many initiatives.

So far, 179 innovative startups have been nominated for Tk10 lakh grants each at the pre-seed stage through an expert selection committee of the iDEA project.

To provide equity funding to seed and growth level startups, Startup Bangladesh Limited was formed in March 2020, through the iDEA project.

Through this company, startups have the opportunity to get investment in the seed stage up to a maximum of Tk1 crore and in the growth stage up to a maximum of Tk5 crore per round sharing a maximum of 49% equity.

Thus, the iDEA project of the ICT Division has been playing a significant role in forming a startup ecosystem in Bangladesh. Apart from financing the startups, the project is also carrying out various activities for their training, mentoring, and domestic and international networking. More information over the matter is available at  www.idea.gov.bd.