Bangladesh StartUp Cup, a global business model competition, has been launched on 10th April 2014 at EMK center in Dhaka.
Jon Danilowicz, the Deputy Chief of Mission, US Embassy in Dhaka attended the event as the Chief Guest and said: “I congratulate Minhaz Anwar and the Startup Cup team, on behalf of Ambassador Mozena and the U.S. Embassy, for their initiative in creating a forum for the inspired and growing community of young entrepreneurs to put their creativity, energy, and entrepreneurial skills to work to tap Bangladesh’s greatest resource – the minds of its rising generation, and connecting Bangladesh’s best and brightest with the global community. ”
Bangladesh StartUp Cup Chair Minhaz Anwar said: “StartUp Scene in Bangladesh is dramatically changing with the launch of Bangladesh StartUp Cup: not only that the StartUps and its ecosystem are fast evolving in Bangladesh the whole world is also watching us. Besides our very own pool of mentors and angels in Bangladesh we have investors and mentors from around the world willing to come to Bangladesh now, thanks to Bangladesh StartUp Cup!”
Among the key attendees of the event were Ms. Saida Muna Tasneem, DG UN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Bangladesh, Sonia B. Kabir the Founding President at TiE Dhaka, M. K. Aaref, Director, EMK Centre and Ms. Viraj M. Lebailly, Director, The American Center. Representatives of partner entities such as the World Bank, British Council, EMK Center, Daffodils University, BetterStories Limited, Impact PR, Bdjobs.Com, Future Leaders and Microsoft were all present reflecting the true community nature of the Bangladesh StratUp Cup.
What is Startup Cup:
The StartUp Cup is a global network of 68 accelerators “without walls” in 57 countries. It was started in Silicon Valley and proven in Tulsa, Oklahoma over the past six years. The competition has been fine-tuned based upon feedback from participating entrepreneurs, judges, coaches, entrepreneurial services providers, and community leaders from around the world. This is first time it has come to Bangladesh.
This 7-month long business building process called Bangladesh StartUp Cup is open for local entrepreneurs interested in building their businesses through an experiential and mentorship driven process and can apply in five categories--Technology, Tech-Enabled, Social, Creative and Women on Bangladesh.StartUpCup.com
Top 25 businesses will compete for awards in cash and kind and be rewarded for building sustainable business models and going to market in the process. The award ceremony will be held in November 2014 during the GEW.
Looking back:
Since the StartUp Cup first began its journey in 2007 it has bagged an outstanding success record: an unprecedented 92% of the Grand Prize winners are still in business, 74% of the Top Three winners continue to remain in business and 61% of the Top 7 Finalists are still thriving. Globally 56% of participating companies are woman-owned, on average each Cup leads to start of 12 new operating startups and 48-56 new jobs created.
How to apply: go to Bangladesh.StartUpCup.com
