Startup Bangladesh Limited (SBL) formally launched the operations of the Bangladesh Fund of Funds, a government-backed initiative designed to mobilize local, international, and development capital into Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem, at a program held on Sunday, August 16, at the ICT Division in Dhaka.
The vehicle carries an initial size of BDT 400 crore, with an ambition to scale further. SBL launched the process through a Request for Expression of Interest, inviting professional venture capital fund managers to apply for capital. SBL is the flagship venture capital and fund management company of the Government of Bangladesh under the ICT Division.
Fakir Mahbub Anam MP, Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, attended as the chief guest. Mr. Rehan Asif Asad, Adviser to the Honorable Prime Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, attended as the Special Guest. The program was chaired by Mr. Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, Secretary, ICT Division, and Chairman of Startup Bangladesh Limited. Nurul Hai, Managing Director and CEO of SBL, presented the fund's structure to the room, and Morikawa Yuko of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) spoke on behalf of the fund's development partner.
Senior government officials, development partners, venture capital and private equity firms, startup founders, investors, and other ecosystem stakeholders attended the event.
The launch marks a meaningful shift in how the Bangladesh government plans to use public capital to support startups in the country.
To put it simply, while Startup Bangladesh Limited has mostly backed individual startups over the years, the firm will now back local and global VCs with a mandate to invest in Bangladeshi startups through a matching fund from Bangladesh Fund of Funds.
SBL will continue its VC arm and continue investing in startups on its own. Bangladesh Fund of Funds will invest capital through selected professional local and global venture capital fund managers.
The idea is to use government capital to attract additional private, institutional, international, and development investment into the market.
This is a strategically sound move. If it works, it can potentially help build the much-needed local venture capital ecosystem and attract international venture capital firms to deploy capital in Bangladesh.
According to SBL, Bangladeshi startups have attracted around $1.2 billion in investment over the past decade. Local investors accounted for only about 7% of that capital. The new fund is an attempt to change that equation.
The BDT 400 crore starting capital is important. The larger ambition is to use that capital as a catalyst for a deeper venture capital market, stronger fund managers, more institutional participation, and greater access to growth capital for Bangladeshi startups.
The government's 2026 election manifesto put startups and entrepreneurship near the center of its economic pitch, tying the sector to job creation and a technology-driven economy.
The current fiscal year budget backs that up with BDT 500 crore allocated for startup development.
A set of new tax and VAT incentives, including a zero percent turnover tax, arrived alongside it.
Put together, these moves read as a coordinated push rather than a single announcement.
Budget allocation, tax relief, and now a fund-of-funds structure all point in the same direction: get more capital, of more kinds, into more startups, faster.
Speaking as chief guest, Fakir Mahbub Anam MP called the Fund of Funds a platform that could reshape the startup ecosystem and said it would connect entrepreneurs with capital, expertise, and global networks.
Rehan Asif Asad framed the ambition in more explicit terms. Bangladesh does not lack talent or ideas, he said. What it lacks is a system where good ideas do not stall for want of money, where investors can commit with confidence, and where the strongest startups can grow past the domestic market into global ones.
Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, Secretary of the ICT Division and Chairman of SBL, chaired the program. He described the goal as a startup ecosystem that eventually stands on its own, with government building the base, private capital adding scale, and global investors bringing networks and expertise.
Nurul Hai, Managing Director and CEO of SBL, walked the room through the fund's structure: how fund managers will be selected, how co-investment will work, and what the fund expects to contribute to the ecosystem. He was direct about the intent behind the design. The Fund of Funds, he said, is not just capital. It is meant to function as financial infrastructure, strengthening professional fund managers and giving high-potential startups a clearer path to scale.
Morikawa Yuko, representing the Japan International Cooperation Agency, spoke to the international side of the equation. She said the fund would help deepen Bangladesh's venture capital market by drawing in institutional and foreign investors and bringing global VC firms into the country.
Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem has spent the past decade building companies and attracting international investors. However, access to capital remains a major challenge. The country lacks an active local venture capital ecosystem. While Bangladeshi startups have raised meaningful global capital, the country doesn’t receive as much attention from global venture capital players as much it deserves as a growing economy.
This necessitates meaningful initiatives to build a deeper investment ecosystem that can facilitate the growth of startups.
Apparently, the Bangladesh Fund of Funds is an attempt to build that ecosystem.
While its initial BDT 400 crore is significant, the more important question is what it unlocks. If the fund can attract several times its initial capital from private and institutional investors, strengthen professional fund managers, bring global VC firms into Bangladesh, and expand the pool of startups capable of raising growth capital, its impact could extend well beyond the size of the fund itself.
However, that will take time and require disciplined execution. For now, SBL has taken a meaningful step toward building a more mature venture capital ecosystem in the country. The firm has shown both vision and sincerity. The next few years will show whether the Fund of Funds can turn that ambition into a durable investment ecosystem.
