EO Bangladesh opened applications for the 11th Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) in Bangladesh at a press launch at Renaissance Dhaka Gulshan.
Applications close on November 7, 2026 at eobangladesh.org/gsea.
GSEA is not a business plan competition. It is open only to students already running a business, with customers and revenue, while carrying a full course load.
The program exists to put those students on a platform.
They pitch to judges who run companies, in front of national media and an audience of Bangladesh’s operating entrepreneurs — exposure most student founders have no route to, at the stage when it counts for most.
The national champion represents Bangladesh at the GSEA regional final for South Asia.
Those who advance go on to the GSEA Global Finals, where the cash package totals $100,000 across three placings, $50,000 of it for first.
Nationally the champion receives structured support, media visibility, access to the EO network, and Tk5 lakh.
Last season 58 students applied and one was named champion: Md. Rezwanul Islam Shuvo of Khulna University, founder of Eco Sentinels Bangladesh.
The 10th edition also became television, with four episodes produced by Bongo BD airing on Ekushey Television in January and February 2026.
Tanazzul Ayman Purny, chairman of Spark Infrastructure Ltd and former co-chair of GSEA Bangladesh, mentored the global finalists at the GSEA Global Finals in Cape Town.
Campus visits run through September and October, semi-finals follow in November, and the national grand finale will be held January 2027.
Who can enter
To be eligible for the competition, applicants must be enrolled as either an undergraduate or a graduate student during the current academic year, with part-time enrollment accepted.
Candidates must be aged between 18 and 30 and be the founder or owner of a business that has been actively operating for at least six months.
Additionally, the business must meet a minimum financial threshold, having generated at least $500 in revenue or $1,000 in investment — about Tk60,000, and aged between 18 and 30.
The official launch took place at the Renaissance Dhaka Gulshan on August 27.
The event featured key platform speakers and leadership figures, including Azra Salim, managing director of Shombhob Health Ltd and president of EO Bangladesh, Kimberly Hannah Kazi, director of Kazi Resort and chair of GSEA Bangladesh, Mostafa Quamrus Sobhan, managing director of Dragon Group and former chair of GSEA Bangladesh, and Tanazzul Ayman Purny, chairman of Spark Infrastructure Ltd and former co-chair of GSEA Bangladesh.
The 2026–27 GSEA Bangladesh committee is co-chaired by Mohammed Tarequzzaman, managing director of Indesore Sweater Ltd, and Tahmina Afrose Tanna, director of Walton Hi-Tech Industries PLC.
