GRAMEENPHONE ACCELERATOR

Grameenphone Accelerator (GPA) is a cohort-based, mentor-led, curriculum-driven open innovation platform that enables and empowers tech startups with the resources they need to build, grow and exceed possibilities. It also provides equity free grants, expert mentors, top-notch curricula, in-house development resources, investor access and many more.

The names Sheba.XYZ, CMED Health, Repto, Cramstack, Dhaka Cast, AlterYouth and BankcompareBD are few startups that have successfully graduated from the Accelerator program. So, are you ready to onboard the journey and be the next big startup in Bangladesh?

STATS

7 Batches

50 Startups

162 Mn+

Grant Amount

10 Times

Average growth

WHO CAN APPLY

TEAM

At least 1 full time co-founder
18 years old or above
Any gender, nationality and education level
Solid founding team

Project

Early-stage technology startups
National or global reach
Must be its own product/service
Registered with RJSC

Selection

Application round
Selection bootcamp
Final jury process
Top team announcement

WHAT YOU GET

Grant Funding

Office Space @GPHouse

Advice from Expert Mentors

Media Exposure

Top-Notch Curricula

Investor Access

Partnership Opportunity

And Many More

TIMELINE

Application Round: Will announce later
Selection Round: Will announce later
Final Announcement: Will announce later

INDUSTRIES WE ARE INTERESTED IN

Health Tech

Edu Tech

Fin Tech

IoT

Entertainment

Gaming

colud Service

Hardware

Clean Tech

M-Commerce

Enterprise

Mobile Application

TEAM

Farhana Islam
Head of Social Impact

Sohel Rana
Program Manager, GP Accelerator

MENTORS

Samad Miraly
ED, Olympic Industries Ltd

Anita Gazi Rahman
Founder, The Legal Circle

Mustafizur Rahman Khan
Partner, IDLC VC Fund-1

Bijon Islam
CEO, LightCastle Partners

Minhaz Anwar
Chief StoryTeller, BetterStories Ltd.

Zahedul Amin
Co-Founder, LightCastle Partners

PITCHING DECK

MAIN CRITERIA

Product

Market Opportunity

Team

DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINE

What should be included in the deck

USEFUL TIPS

Keep it short and concise.
Not more than 10 slides.
Use some relevant images.
Avoid text-heavy.
Keep it REAL!

USEFUL EXAMPLE

Shopway

Dorji-E

ALUMNI

sheba.xyz
Industry: Service

Repto
Industry: Edutech

Buzzally
Industry: Software

Socian
Industry: Big data/ BI

CMED Health
Industry: Healthtech

CRAMSTACK
Industry: Big data/AI

Aamartaka
Industry: Fintech

Doctorkoi
Industry: Healthteach

Microtech
Industry: Edutech

Barikoi
Industry: Enterprise Architecture

Alteryouth
Industry: Edutech

Digital Manush
Industry: Service Marketplace

Avijatrik
Industry: Traveltech

Mars Ltd
Industry: Weather

Onutiative Ltd
Industry: Enterprise Architecture

Amaruddog
Industry: Enterprise Architecture

Search English
Industry: Edutech

Cwork
Industry: Artiicial Intelligence

Parkingkoi
Industry: Parking solution

Amarstock
Industry: Stock Market

Landknock
Industry: Software

Toitoie
Industry: Traveltech

Autorack
Industry: Automobiles

Dhaka Cast
Industry: Healthtech

PARTNERS

FAQ

Basic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_accelerator

Not by us! We aren’t in the business of stealing ideas. The best way to protect yourself is by being better than anyone else. You may also want to look into trademarking and copyrighting your intellectual property with your lawyer.

If you’re in tech, have got a great early-stage startup, a great team and you think you can benefit greatly from what the GP Accelerator has to offer (Grant Funding, Office Space, Mentorship, Access to Investors, and more…), then sure, you should definitely apply!

The GP Accelerator will only accept companies registered in Bangladesh.

You should consult your own legal advisors for this.

THE PROGRAM

Ideally, the GP Accelerator accepts tech startups that already have something to show/ demonstrate. This is ideal because then you are in a position to best take advantage of the resources the program provides. Ideas are hard to accelerate. But if you have a minimum viable product, a prototype, or some low traction and users, or even any of that in development, it’s better suited to take advantage and accelerate growth. Of course, exceptions are always there for the exceptional.

There are three rounds of filtration of applications. After the application submission deadline, we’ll sort through all the applications based on how well we think your startup will be able to benefit from accelerator resources, your team’s ability to execute, and the strength of the business. Next, we’ll invite teams to pitch in front us, we’ll have in-person interviews and see if you can sell us on your story. Final Round will be when we select the final 7-8 teams, and here, we’ll also have in-person pitches and see who has the most potential based on a holistic evaluation.

There is a minimum team size of two co-founders. The maximum number of people from your team that can work from GP House is four. At least one co-founder needs to be working full-time for your company to be eligible for the GP Accelerator program.

After joining, we’ll go through an orientation and get to know you, and have you get to know us. You’ll match yourselves with relevant mentors. And for the next few months we’ll go through intensive modules in Customer Identification and Development, Product Development, Sales & Marketing, Customer Validation, Operations & Execution, Legal & Finance, and more. Depending on your strengths and weaknesses, we’ll focus and curate the intensity of the curriculum.

You can work at GP House from 8am to 8pm every day, except Friday & Saturday (special permission required for holidays). You can work anywhere else outside GP House for however long you want! But the GP Accelerator team officially runs from 9am - 5pm. They may well work longer, but they’re not obligated to.

You are expected to participate fully and be fully engaged in the GP Accelerator program. That means being primarily based out of GP House for the duration of the program. You’ll benefit greatly from interacting with the team, the other startups, visiting mentors and the Grameenphone infrastructure. That being said, it’s your company and your responsibility, so manage your time accordingly. To be fair to the other teams, we can’t hold up the program if you aren’t fully participating.

If you are selected to enter the GP Accelerator, you will be given an access card to allow you entry. It’s valid for your 6-month batch during working hours. You cannot bring in guests, but can request business-related guests to be brought in for meetings. You can book meetings with the help of the GP Accelerator admin team.

Not for your space at GP House for the 6 months you’re working there during the program.

There are no separate allowances for transport, conveyance, hardware, etc. Lunch at the Grameenphone cafeteria is included with the program and will be provided for the duration of the program for your participating team members (up to four members).

Grameenphone has only intention to support you to boost up your business and being part to the economic growth of the country. By entering the GP Accelerator program, no ownership of your company is reserved or will exchange. It’s your company. You run it, operate it, reap the rewards and the losses. We will not take any equity of your business, the intention isn’t to eat up your company, but to help build it.

Unless you’re involved in criminal activity or actively uncooperative and disrespectful to the people around you and your environment, you should be fine. The GP Accelerator reserves the right to ask you politely to step out if there is a breach of codes of conduct or values. You also cannot be a part of any other accelerator programs at the same time, just due to conflict of interest.

GRANT/ SEED MONEY, EQUITY & INVESTORS

Teams accepted into the GP Accelerator get up to twelve thousand ($12,000) US Dollar worth of BDT as grant funding, given in two (2) different form ($7,000 as cash and $5,000 in kind). On acceptance into the program (and submission of the required documents), you get half of 7,000 deposited into your registered Bangladeshi company bank account. After graduating through Demo Day by successfully pitching your company, you get the rest (another half). You can spend the money on your company as you see fit, but we hope to guide you through this process on how to best spend for your company. The purpose of the money is to help build your company.

We will not take any equity or ownership into your company.

Demo Day is an invite-only event at the end of your 6-months at the GP Accelerator that is geared toward deal-making. You’ll pitch your startup to a room full of potential investors, customers, partners and others that can potentially increase your business. This is your opportunity to hustle. Nothing guaranteed. Like we said, it’s your company, and you can make a deal with whomever you like, and it’s on you to close the deals. We won’t close them for you.

Yes, we would encourage it, we want your company to succeed. There are no restrictions put on you to who you can deal with.

Nope. As a founder-friendly accelerator, there are no limits set on you. It’s your company and you have full right to choose the investor you want to.

Some investors may be mentors, and some investors will stop in, have a chat, or lead sessions during the 6-month program. So, yeah, you’ll meet investors before Demo Day. This helps you build relationships and allows you to get to know one another before Demo Day.

Sure you can. It’s your company. If you think that benefits you, you can take investment anytime you want to.

No. We are here to provide the resources to help you build your company. We aren’t going to build it for you. It’s up to you how far you want to go with the benefits the GP Accelerator provides.

You can contact us by email at msrana@grameenphone.com through our Facebook page, or our website www.grameenphone.com/gpaccelerator

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GRAMEENPHONE ACCELERATOR

STATS

WHO CAN APPLY

WHAT YOU GET

TIMELINE

INDUSTRIES WE ARE INTERESTED IN

TEAM

MENTORS

PITCHING DECK

MAIN CRITERIA

DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINE

What should be included in the deck

USEFUL TIPS

USEFUL EXAMPLE

ALUMNI

PARTNERS

FAQ

Basic

WHAT IS AN ACCELERATOR?

WILL YOUR IDEAS GET STOLEN?

SHOULD YOU APPLY?

IS THIS ONLY FOR STARTUPS IN BANGLADESH?

CAN WE HELP YOU REGISTER YOUR COMPANY?

THE PROGRAM

YOU ARE IN IDEA STAGE, SHOULD YOU APPLY? WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE SHOULD APPLY?

WHAT IS THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR THE GP ACCELERATOR PROGRAM?

IS THERE A MINIMUM TEAM SIZE? A MAXIMUM?

WHAT’S THE CURRICULUM ALL ABOUT? IS IT ANY GOOD? WHAT AM I GOING TO LEARN?

CAN YOU WORK 24/7?

DO YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP EVERYDAY AND WORK AT GP HOUSE?

HOW DO YOU ACCESS THE GP HOUSE? CAN YOU BRING GUESTS IN? CAN YOU HAVE MEETINGS WITH OUTSIDE PEOPLE?

DO YOU HAVE TO PAY RENT?

DO YOU GET TRANSPORT? DO YOU GET FOOD? DO YOU GET A COMPUTER?

WHAT IS GRAMEENPHONE’S INVOLVEMENT? DO THEY OWN YOUR COMPANY? WILL YOUR SERVICES BE EXCLUSIVE TO THEM?

CAN YOU GET KICKED OUT OF THE GP ACCELERATOR

GRANT/ SEED MONEY, EQUITY & INVESTORS

WHEN DO YOU GET THE MONEY? ARE THERE RESTRICTIONS ON SPENDING IT?

HOW MUCH EQUITY DO YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP?

WHAT’S DEMO DAY? WHO COMES? WHAT HAPPENS?

DURING DEMO DAY, CAN YOU ACCEPT OFFERS FROM REAL INVESTORS?

DOES ANYONE HAVE THE FIRST-RIGHT-OF-REFUSAL FOR INVESTING IN MY COMPANY ONCE I GRADUATE OR AT DEMO DAY?

DO YOU ONLY MEET INVESTORS AT DEMO DAY, OR DO YOU GET EARLIER ACCESS TO THEM?

CAN YOU TAKE INVESTMENT BEFORE DEMO DAY?

ARE YOU GUARANTEED INVESTMENT AT DEMO DAY?

YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS THAT AREN’T ADDRESSED HERE - WHERE CAN YOU ASK THEM?

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