Two start-ups - "Fabrik Lagabe" and "Markopolo.ai" - secured the first position jointly in the Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2023 competition on Saturday.
A grant of Tk1 crore was given to each of the joint winners who emerged as best startups, while other top 50 start-ups received Tk10 lakh each.
The Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) Project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under the ICT Division organized the BIG competition for the 3rd time to inspire young entrepreneurs, aiming to develop a startup ecosystem in the country.
Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman was present at the grand finale as the chief guest and distributed grant money while State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak presided over the event.
This year, 6,846 start-ups and innovators applied for the BIG contest following the nationwide campaigns of the competition.
Salman F Rahman said many people could not believe that Bangladesh would be transformed into a digital country.
"But we made it happen. Now we are working to build a 'Smart Bangladesh'," he added.
Addressing the event, Zunaid Ahmed Palak said “Digital Bangladesh” is the outcome of everyone's collective effort.
"We have funded nearly 400 startups from iDEA projects in 10 years from the beginning of 2015. About 30% of these startups are still alive and struggling while about 10% of these startups advanced to the pre-seed and growth stages," he added.
Noting that the BIG was launched with three specific goals - building innovation ecosystems and building entrepreneurial supply chains, and developing startup cultures, Palak said, "To implement these goals, we are going to finalize the startup policy".
"Our aim is to establish another 5-billion-dollar company by 2025 as well as create employment for three million young women in the startup sector," he added.
Through the online pitching round, 103 startups were selected for a three-day boot camp held at Sheikh Hasina Software Technology Park in Jashore from June 9 to 11 this year while finally 52 startups were given the grant of at the grand finale.
