Tech and innovation icon Sonia Bashir Kabir was named "ICT Businessperson of the Year" at the Daily Star ICT Awards 2019 for her tech investments, pioneering initiatives, and extraordinary achievements in the country’s ICT sector at a Dhaka hotel on Friday.
The Prime Minister’s international affairs adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi presented her with the award, according to a press release.
She is the founder and the chairman of SBK Tech Ventures and SBK Foundation, and previously was the Managing Director of Microsoft Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Laos for five years.
She said, "I am absolutely honored, humbled and grateful to have won the Businessperson of the Year Award for my work. This is the first time this award has been given to a woman, and I see this as an opportunity to celebrate women entrepreneurship and contributions in the technology sector."
She further said, "I feel blessed to had the chance to work with talented youth in my career in Bangladesh. I also look forward to collaborating with them in the future. I believe technology will empower our youth to change the lives of the people of Bangladesh."
Sonia Bashir Kabir is a Bangladeshi investor focusing on tech start-ups in emerging markets. She is a renowned figure in the tech community as a founder, co-founder, angel investor, and tech philanthropist.
In 2017, she was recognized as 1 of the 10 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) pioneers by the United Nations Global Compact. In 2016, Sonia was 1 of the 10 recipients of Microsoft’s Prestigious Founders Award given by Bill Gates. She was also a national athlete who has played both Volleyball & Cricket for Abahani & Bangladesh Women’s National team.
Sonia Bashir Kabir has co-founded over 10 startups including Dmoney, Syntec, Digiland, Uqeel, Agrisensor, Turbo technologies, Hishabplus.com, United ventures, Dokkho, Proshanti, and Pulse. She is an angel investor in Sheba.xyz, Priyoshop.com, Repto to name a few.
Sonia also Co-Founded the first IT Association in Bangladesh for women called Bangladesh Women in IT (BWIT).
She is also the Founder and President of The Angels Network (TAN) the nation’s first Tech Women Investors Platform.
