1st Sankalp Dhaka Summit: Initiative announced to raise $250m for 1,000 impact enterprises

Bangladesh Green Enterprises Ecosystem Initiative at a glance

• $250 million funds to be raised by 2030
• 1,000 local impact enterprises to be funded
• 10,000 jobs to be created

Sankalp Forum, one of the world's largest impact enterprise-focused platforms, has come to Dhaka for its first summit here to accelerate the ecosystem building for impact investments.

Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, the forum initiator, in the 1st Sankalp Dhaka Summit organised at a city hotel on Sunday, has announced the "Bangladesh Green Enterprises Ecosystem Initiative" to raise $250 million for funding a thousand local impact enterprises by 2030 to create 10,000 jobs.

Impact investors back enterprises that have positive impacts against social and environmental problems, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through their business activities that leverage technology.

Aavishkaar Founder and Chairman Vineet Rai in the gathering of some 40 international impact experts, investors and around 200 local startup entrepreneurs and experts presented how the global impact investment group along with its impact advisory arm Intellecap helped create a robust ecosystem in India, Africa and some other markets.

He also spoke about how Aavishkaar Group having $1.3 billion of assets under management has delivered and facilitated impact unicorns in India and across the "Global South".

Vineet Rai, also a member of the G20 taskforce on startups, said there is a limitless opportunity that startups and enterprises in the region can uncover.

Intellecap's mission is to enable ecosystems by channelling capital to create and nurture a sustainable and equitable society, said its Managing Director Jayesh Bhatia while announcing the Bangladesh Green Enterprises Ecosystem Initiative.

Sankalp Forum brings its proven success across the Global South to facilitate the creation of an environment of knowledge, capital and networks for entrepreneurial minds.

Over the past 14 years, Sankalp through its 29 summits showcased and discovered more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, and connected them to over a thousand investors, he added.

Bhatia emphasised on partnerships with philanthropic institutions, development finance institutions, private sector institutions to channelize financial capital to small, medium and large enterprises to be people and planet positive as his group has got the world's top development financial institutions and foundations as the sustainability investors.

Renewable energy, green textile and apparel manufacturing, climate smart and sustainable agriculture, engaging SMEs in the sustainability journey, innovations for a greater access to nutrition and healthcare were among the topics experts discussed in the day-long summit.

ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak in the opening session welcomed Aavishkaar Group and Sankalp initiative of Intellicap and extended his support and engagement with the Bangladesh Green Enterprise Ecosystem Initiative.

Sami Ahmed, Managing Director StartUp Bangladesh, spoke about his vision and importance of StartUps in Bangladesh economic development.

Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group founded more than two decades ago works across critical sectors like agriculture, livelihoods, climate change, clean energy, financial services, gender and inclusion, healthcare, water and sanitation and has delivered over 700 global engagements across more than 60 countries.

A large number of local and international organisations partnered with Aavishkaar-Intellecap at the summit.