Grameenphone Accelerator 3.0 “Demo Day” was held on September 21 at GP House where six participating startups pitched for their ventures to potential investors. The journey of GP Accelerator this year began in February with the seventh batch of the national award wining initiative, which has been supporting the startup ecosystem in Bangladesh since 2015.
“Being a believer in the power of youth, our demographic dividend gives us millions of reasons to dream for a better tomorrow and the potential to unlock endless possibiltiies with millions of potential future-fit leaders. Ideas are priceless, and we want to accelerate such priceless business ideas and innovations towards successful realizations. Grameenphone has always taken a youth-first approach and we will continue to elevate the status of the startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem in Bangladesh. We are proud to patronize and contribute to this journey of empowering youth and marching toward our shared vision of becoming a self-sustained knowledge-based economy,” said Yasir Azman, CEO of Grameenphone.
Mustafizur Khan, Founder & CEO, of Upskill, added, “Innovation has been at the core of today’s event, which proves that our next generation of business leaders are quite on the right track. I congratulate all the participants for the hard work and dedication they have shown. If they keep up with such consistency, Bangladesh will soon find some global standard businesses thriving in the market.”
Grameenphone collaborated with three consortium partners – BetterStories Limited, LightCastle Partners, and Upskill – for GPA 3.0. Startups of the current batch have been developed with a ‘global-first’ philosophy by Grameenphone, which shall enable them to leave remarkable footprints beyond the border.
Mohsina Yasmin, Executive Member, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority graced the event as the Special Guest. Hans Martin Hoegh Henrichsen, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer; Farhana Islam, Head of Social Impact, Grameenphone; Khairul Basher, Head of Communications, Grameenphone; Mustafizur Khan, Founder & CEO, Upskill; and other respected officials, along with investors and guests were also present at the Demo Day event. The six startups showcasing own prospects at the event were – iPage, AirWrk, Lilac, Onnow, OneThread, and Game of Eleven.
