Three startups out of 37 initially selected have won an opportunity today to take their innovative business ideas to Helsinki, Finland and pitch them to global investors.
They earned the opportunity at Slush Global Impact Accelerator (GIA) organized in Bangladesh by Grameenphone White-Board.
Slush Global Impact Accelerator (GIA) is a program created in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland and other global partners. It is Europe’s leading startup and technology event, which connects startups and tech talent with top-tier international investors, executives, and media.
In many countries, Slush organizes local events, where startups from the respective countries pitch their businesses to become of the top three chosen startups to represent their countries in front of the global platform of Slush GIA.
In Bangladesh this year, Grameenphone White-Board as an enabler of the digital ecosystem, along mLAB have arranged the event in Bangladesh in search of the best startups to represent Bangladesh in the global event.
The three winning startups -‘Surge Engineering’ (Portable Biogas Plant), ‘Bino’ (Virtual animation for education) and ‘Jolpi’ (IoT device to identify Gas Leakage), are going to participate in an online pre-event coaching and will attend a Book Camp program from November 15, 2017 to December 2, 2017, culminating in the Slush Global Conference.
This year, around 113 startups attended the competition in Bangladesh with their business concepts. The startups went through an initial screening on July 29, where 37 startups were selected for the pitching round, which took place on August 5, where the participants pitched their ideas to industry experts. The best three startups have been selected on the basis of meticulous evaluation.
Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Honorable state minister, Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology, Bangladesh, was present in today’s program as chief guest. Michael Foley, CEO, Grameenphone Ltd. was present as special guest.
The purpose of Slush is to support impact-driven startups and to showcase exciting business opportunities in emerging markets, which are also vital for implementing the Agenda 2030 and solving complex challenges. GIA 2017 this year will bring such impact-driven entrepreneurs from emerging markets to Helsinki to accelerate their businesses, attract additional financing, and build long-lasting networks.