Name: Webinar | Trials and Triumphs of the Bangladesh Startup Ecosystem feat. Council of Global Startups
Uploaded: 2023-08-10T08:22:50+00:00
Duration: 1 h 9 min 9 s
Description: In this webinar, the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce invited two special guests from the Council of Global Startups for a discussion on the development of the Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem in the pa

2 years ago

In this webinar, the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce invited two special guests from the Council of Global Startups for a discussion on the development of the Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem in the past five years. Our two speakers for this special event were Mahmud Hasan, Asia Pacific Director of the Council of Global Startups and CEO and Founder of the digital agency, Zovoteam; and, Yasserr Arafat, member of the Mentorship Panel of the Council of Global Startups and CEO and Founder of the Bangladeshi e-commerce platform Buy-now.biz.
The discussion with Mahmud and Yasser provided valuable insights into how Bangladesh’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is rapidly growing with the support of the government and private sector investing in providing grants and venture capital funding for scalable startups. Mahmud and Yasser emphasised not only the importance of creating a friendly and flexible environment for startups to thrive in, is a core focus of the government's initiatives, but also the critical need for mentorship for budding startups. Citing issues ranging from misinformation, lack of documentation to lack of clarity in long term business plans and business scale-ups, our speakers deem this the biggest knowledge gap in the South Asian country’s ecosystem.

Cross-border e-commerce is an area that faces challenges due to logistics and payment issues, but there are initiatives underway to address these obstacles. Mahmud and Yasser both emphasised the need for a global smart logistics system to improve the cost-effectiveness of cross-border e-commerce. They also acknowledge the importance of digital literacy in enabling entrepreneurs to leverage technology for cross-border e-commerce.

In five years, the startup ecosystem in Bangladesh is expected to be a global model, with more unicorns and startups solving problems internationally. Mahmud and Yasser both hope to see their startups become unicorns and create a real impact in people's lives. They highlighted the importance of creating startups that not only generate value but also create a positive impact on society.

Timecodes:
00:00 Julia Charlton's welcome speech
03:56 Mahmud about Bangladesh Startup Ecosystem
31:15 Mahmud and Yasser about creation of the Council of Global Startups
40:07 Mahmud and Yasser about what kind of documentation do startups in Bangladesh usually use
43:55 Mahmud and Yasser about government support of startups
50:05 Yasser about e-commerce platform
53:02 Mahmud and Yasser about how to improve logistics system for e-commerce and reduce delivery price
59:33 Mahmud and Yasser about future of Bangladesh startups
1:08:00 Julia Charlton's closing speech