14 Bangladeshi startups raised more than $35Mn in disclosed investments in Q1 2023. This includes ShopUp’s $30 million in debt financing by Lendable, the global provider of debt to fintech companies in emerging markets, and The City Bank, a leading commercial bank in Bangladesh announced in February 2023.
Despite an increase in the number of deals compared to the same period in 2022, there was a significant decline in deal volume compared to the previous year. In Q1 2022, Bangladeshi startups raised some 57Mn in 12 deals.
The country saw one acquisition in healthcare startup MedEasy acquired a medicine delivery startup Alchemy.
Funds have been raised by a diverse range of companies. However, e-commerce, ed-tech, healthcare, software, media, and entertainment are the top verticals that attracted the highest investments.
Govt-backed VC firm Startup Bangladesh Limited was the most active investor in Q1. SBK Tech Ventures has also invested in a number of companies. SAJIDA Foundation, with its first disclosed investment in Shikho, is a new entrant in the scene.
See which companies have raised money in Q1 2023 below. And please feel free to email us your queries, feedback, comments, and critical thoughts to [email protected]
| SL | Company | Transaction Name | Money Raised | Vertical | Investors |
| 1 | ShopUp | Debt financing | $30Mn | B2B Commerce | Lendable, City Bank |
| 2 | Bongo | Venture Series | $3Mn | Entertainment | Northbase Media, Startup Bangladesh Limited |
| 3 | Shikho | Strategic funding round | $900K | Ed-tech | SAJIDA Foundation, Sturgeon Capital, Black Kite Capital, Goodwater |
| 4 | AmarLab | Pree-Seed Round | $100K | Healthcare | Startup Bangladesh Limited |
| 5 | CMED Health Limited | Seed | Undisclosed | Healthcare | Biniyog Briddhi |
| 6 | OpenRefactory | Pree- Series A Round | $100K | Application Security | Startup Bangladesh Limited |
R-Venture 3.0 by Robi announces investment in 8 startups | |||||
| 7 | Jomma | Pree-Seed | $190K | Investment Service | SBK Tech Ventures, RedDot Digital Ltd |
| 8 | DigiDokan | Pree-Seed | $150K | Logistics | Startup Bangladesh Limited, RedDot Digital Ltd, SBK Tech Ventures |
| 9 | HishabPlus | Pree-Seed | $120K | Fintech | RedDot Digital Ltd, SBK Tech Ventures, Angels |
| 10 | Uqeel | Pree-Seed | $95K | Legal Solution | SBK Tech Ventures, Angels |
| 11 | Fabric Lagbe | Pree-Seed | $95K | Logistics | Startup Bangladesh Limited |
| 12 | YOUR-Campus | Pree-Seed | $47K | Smart Campus | Startup Bangladesh Limited |
| 13 | ANTT Robotics | Seed | $47K | Logistics | Startup Bangladesh Limited |
| 14 | Drishti | Series B | $24K | Tech | RedDot Digital Ltd |
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Sources: FS Research, LightCastle Partners, Crunchbase.
