Top 52 local startups received BDT 7 crore in the 3rd iteration of the Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2023, organised by the Innovation Design and Entrepreneurship Academy (iDEA) Project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under the ICT Division.
A total of 6846 startups and innovators applied to participate in this contest at the initial stage after the nationwide campaign of BIG 2023, organized with the slogan “Dare to Stand Big”. Finally, “Fabric Lagbe Ltd.” and “Markopolo.ai” were joint winners as the Best Startups of the BIG 2023 and were awarded a grant of BDT 1 Crore each.
In addition, each of the top 50 startups will receive a grant of BDT 10 lakh for a total of BDT 5 crore. In other words, the organizer provides a total grant of BDT 7 crore to the 52 best startups. The grand finale of BIG 2023 was held on Saturday, June 17, 2023 in the morning at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital, Dhaka.
This year’s session of “Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2023” concluded with an award distribution ceremony of about three hours of the exclusive program. Mr. Salman F Rahman MP, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister was present as the chief guest of the program. The program was presided over by Mr Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP, State Minister, ICT Division.
Salman F Rahman said that ID cards have been arranged for freelancers, through which they can avail themselves of various opportunities, including bank loan facilities. The program chair, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, said that ICT Division has funded nearly 400 startups from iDEA projects in 10 years from the beginning of 2015. About 30 percent of these startups are still alive and struggling. About 10 percent of these startups have advanced to the pre-seed and growth stages. Palak also said that the aim is to establish another 5-billion-dollar company by 2025 and create employment for three million young women in the startup sector.
