On January 24 Orinus Partners, a Japan-based international consulting company announced that Farhan Rahman, COO and co-Founder of GObd, is the winner of their Social Entrepreneurship Showcase Event called LINK. Farhan will be invited by Orinus Partners to Tokyo, Japan in February to meet with Japanese companies and discuss potential business collaborations as well as to give a guest pitch representing Bangladesh at one of the largest business idea competition in Japan.
GObd and four other finalists, Drinkwell, REPTO - Education Center, Porashona online and Mangrobe International, presented their ideas to a panel of judges comprising of business leaders from Japan and Bangladesh as well as the public-private partnership expert from JICA. The Representative of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) also attended the event and congratulated the winner and other finalists.
“LINK is part of our initiative to open an avenue for social entrepreneurs in Bangladesh to be recognised by and gain support from external experts and investors, and thereby remove barriers and accelerate their growth. This year, 34 entrepreneurs applied to LINK from five different sectors; agriculture, energy, healthcare, education, and ICT. We found much potential in those entrepreneurs, and wish to expand our platform in coming years,” said Ikue Uchida, the Representative of Orinus Partners.
Organised by Orinus Partners in collaboration with Japan-based International development consulting company and DrinkEntrepreneurs Dhaka, entrepreneurs’ community based in Dhaka, LINK is looking to develop unique start-up seeds.