Startup Connect 2025 brings new hope for innovative investment

Promises of FDI and investment are gradually being exhausted because of severe competition, political wavering, and shortages of utilities and infrastructural support, along with anti-global protectionist behaviours as main constrictions. 

Within this dismay, a slow revolution in the start-up business by the young talents with a number of innovative models has brought a ray of hope. The startups are encouraging young people to contribute to self-employment and at the same time create new employment. 

Still, we are much further behind than that of pioneering countries such as Singapore (50,000+) and India (33,700 with 114 Unicorns). 

The four-day Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 began on 7 April 2025, positioning Bangladesh as Asia's next investment frontier. The first-day event at Bangladesh Startup Connect 2025, a gathering of high-profile local and global investors, startup pioneers, and policymakers with the theme of "Empowering Innovation, Connecting Opportunities," has created a huge passion and appetite among young investors.

The opening ceremony emphasised the country's investment potential by highlighting its young workforce, strategic location, and increasing access to technology. Bangladesh is one of the world's fastest-growing economies, yet investment in startups still lags behind peer nations; however, double-digit growth is possible if an integrated approach is geared up.

The summit was a perfect event for investors and startups, as they have to work together to improve the startup ecosystem. It came up that about 25 venture capitalists got to see the startups at the summit. Regulatory issues such as the cumbersome process of trade license and its renewal came up for discussion. The summit emphasised the need for simplifications of business processes and improving the business ecosystem.

There is an announcement from the central bank for setting up a dedicated fund of nearly Tk900 crore to provide capital support to startup companies for which an official circular will be issued soon. Bangladesh Bank would grow this fund from private commercial banks, and they will be equity holders. 

The money will be used only for equity investment in promising startup businesses. Bangladesh Bank will also contribute nearly Tk500 crore as co-financer, with the money used for equity investment and lending also. This can be the starting point for the startup businesses. One of the pioneer investments in the startup is bKash. Governor said, "I want to see at least 10 unicorns like bKash in Bangladesh in the future."

Preparedness for a 'fund of funds (FoF)' is going on by accumulating various investments. The fund will provide critical support to early- and growth-stage startups, empowering them with the resources needed for expansion, internationalisation, and sustainability. 'Startup Connect 2025' has reflected Bangladesh's commitment to transforming itself into a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The ICT Division is working on 21 projects, among which three are dedicated to startups. Horizontal growth of startups is the priority.

Speakers put emphasis on the need for a data localisation facility for the investors. Consultation with local businesses on data protection rights needs to be conducted. The government is focusing on reducing internet prices at the regional level. 

The 10% price reduction has already been implemented for the submarine cable users. Bulk users will get a 30% discount. There will be more policy support for mobile internet providers and ISPs. It was announced that 35%-45% of mobile towers have been fiberised so that access to the internet at the grassroots level can be ensured. The ICT roadmap also prioritises data governance and interoperability.

The launch of the Infusion Partners Fund introduced by Incepta Pharma, with the aim of accelerating startup growth in the country, is another step to support startups in the country. 

Speakers in different sessions raised the untapped market potential in sectors such as technology, consumer goods, and healthcare. The panellists noted that while Bangladesh's investment climate is improving, challenges such as a lack of infrastructure and limited access to venture capital remain concerns. Explored how businesses can position themselves to attract investment; the need for startups to demonstrate scalability and a long-term vision to secure investor confidence was raised.

The fundraising landscape is evolving. Seeking capital is challenging for startups and the increasing role of alternative funding sources is vital in this regard. Crowdfunding and strategic partnerships can be alternatives.

The EdTech Revolution can help Transforming Learning, Scaling Impact, viewed in another session for educational technology (EdTech), can play a pivotal role in addressing Bangladesh's educational challenges. Technology can bridge gaps in the education system, enabling greater access to learning and improving outcomes for the country's youth. 

The 10 Minute School delved deeper into the potential of the EdTech market in Bangladesh. Young startups explained how technology can not only enhance education but also create new jobs in the sector; they highlighted the need for public-private partnerships to scale EdTech initiatives and provide sustainable solutions to the education crisis in the country.

In the session on unlocking growth through scaling impact and climate innovation, it was mentioned that 6% to 7% of GDP of Bangladesh is lost annually due to the use of lead acid battery. This issue needs to be addressed by setting up the foundation for the ecosystem actors to strengthen environmental resilience and social progress. It was also explored that impact measurement of the investment is needed. Integrating impact investment and climate innovation into Bangladesh's economic framework is required.

The regulatory bottlenecks still exist. Policy inconsistencies need to be addressed. There are exchange restrictions for capital flow, policy amendment is required. An impact investing regulatory framework is also needed. Knowledge dissemination and de-risking the top investing companies is essential. Fostering public-private collaboration is needed for sustainable economic expansion. Enabling enterprise-led solutions is needed to mitigate climate risks while driving growth.

A session dedicated to unlocking a billion-dollar healthcare opportunity in Bangladesh, the transformative potential of digital health technologies in revolutionising healthcare access for Bangladesh's 170 million residents. 

According to BIDA, the healthcare industry in Bangladesh was valued at 6.75 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach 15 billion by 2032, reflecting significant expansion and investor interest. To ensure smooth digital medical services, startups such as Arogga, Augmedix, and Praava Health have come a long way. The founders and country representatives from these startups shared their challenges, such as getting patient related history from big local clinics, having only 11 global quality laboratories in the country, etc.

Firms such as Augmedix and Sow Good are using AI-generated tools to transform doctor-patient conversations into medical notes, aiming to improve healthcare delivery and streamline documentation processes. It came up in discussion that people in the country die from lack of quality medical services and proper diagnostics, which the startups are trying to address gradually. The presence of counterfeit medicine also poses a challenge in this sector.

At the summit, several startups exhibited their ideas and products. Among those, FronTech exhibited several robotics solutions in embedded systems and IoT solutions. Another notable example was More, which provides coworking space in different commercial buildings in different areas along with shared office services.

The history of venture capital and innovative startups is not new in the country; Bangladesh Bank created Equity and Entrepreneurs Fund (EEF) in 2000 for IT and agro-sectors but most of them could not prove them successful even though the funding was interest-free. FoF is a similar type of fund that will be disbursed through VC firms as a partner to take the stake for risk mitigation and at the same time will extend equity support. PKSF in Bangladesh is funding small and micro entrepreneurs through different NGOs and can be an example of how FoF is working. 

Fund generation for the startup within the country is difficult. For fund generation, permission from Bangladesh Security Exchange Commission (BSEC) is required, equity instruments in the country are also small because of the fund crisis and fund generation. VC firms are not progressing in the country and thus cannot contribute more to startup generation.

Bangladesh Bank also created a fund to encourage entrepreneurship and self-employment, established a Tk5.0 billion revolving refinance fund, known as the "Start-up Fund," where scheduled banks contribute 1% of their annual net profit for the next five years, starting in 2020, only Tk35 crore has been disbursed so far, which is not an encouraging figure.

In India SIDBI is a good example of creating FoF and disbursing to the startups. Silicon Valley in Bengaluru, India which has grown as a global technology and startup hub, is home to numerous multinational corporations, over 400 global R&D centres and research institutions with cutting-edge facilities, and more than 4,000 startups as per available information. Bangladesh can explore similar such initiatives to attract the pool of talents who are moving abroad without getting proper jobs.

VC firms can be linked with startups to make FoF effective and will monitor so that the startup can avoid risks because of the highly susceptible factor ingrained with the start-ups for their innovative and non-traditional nature. 

Young entrepreneurs can be supported with policy and funding to acquire a global footing to prove the strength of Bangladeshi entrepreneurship. Why can't Bangladesh be a home to exemplary startup businesses in the world like Google, Uber, Facebook and Twitter etc.? 

Talented Startups are seeking investment support to speed up idea development and improve scalability. While global funding is encouraged, repatriation of money is a serious problem in the country and the exit is another age-old policy constraint. 

Having a registered business in Bangladesh an entrepreneur could face a lot of problems for repatriation of money, with 90% of global funding coming to this sector rather interested in being registered in Singapore than in Bangladesh to address the problem.

The ICT ministry is working hard to encourage the young generation and identified some sectors such as fintech, enterprise solutions, lifestyle, logistics, health tech, agritech, and edutech, as potential areas for start-up. Bangladesh Summit 2025 energised young entrepreneurs to move to a new height, we need to uphold the spree towards a new horizon of investment in the country.

Ferdaus Ara Begum. Sketch: TBS

Ferdaus Ara Begum is the CEO of BUILD, a public-private dialogue platform that works for private sector development.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.