9 Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have placed in three categories – Enterprise Technology, Retail & E-Commerce and Social Impact.
The influential US magazine 'Forbes' has released a list of 300 young people from Asia under the age of 30 who have contributed to various fields of society in 2021. Nine Bangladeshi youths have made it to the list this year.
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs ranked in three categories – Enterprise Technology, Retail & E-Commerce and Social Impact. Forbes announced its sixth annual 'Thirty Under Thirty Asia' list on Monday.
Among them, Shehzad Noor Taos Priya, Motasim Bir Rahman and Mir Saqib, three young Bangladeshi entrepreneurs, have been featured in the Enterprise Technology category of the “Forbes Thirty Under Thirty Asia 2021” list.
Shehzad Noor Taos Priya (24) and Motasim Bir Rahman (26) were awarded for their Artificial Intelligence or AI based initiative 'Gage'.
Singapore and Bangladesh-based AI startup Gage provides visual recognition technology for online transactions.
Founded in 2018, the AI ​​startup claims to create frictionless online checkout.
According to information on Gage's Facebook page, they create a passwordless sign or GagePass for API developers that is compatible with basically any webcam or biometric sensor. The company has raised $1 million in funding and its customers include members of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Earlier it won the 'Startup World Cup Bangladesh' in 2020 and the Bangladesh Business Innovation Award for Best Startup in 2019.
Shehzad Noor Taos Priya, co-founder and CEO of Gage, claimed his first venture patent from IBM Research at the tender age of 21. On the other hand, its other co-founder and COO Motasim Bir Rahman created Bangladesh's second most popular social networking platform 'Nagarbalk' at the age of 14.
On the other hand, Mir Saqib made it to the Forbes list for his startup CramStack.
Cramstack mainly deals with data. It is a business intelligence platform through which businesses can find, analyze and use data.
The idea behind CramStack is to create a search platform similar to Google Search that will help users find different data sources for businesses. CramStack can analyze and make meaningful and actionable information that seems insignificant to the lay eye.
CramStack's current customers include the power, finance, manufacturing, healthcare and retail sectors of the Government of Bangladesh; BCG, UNDP and National Bank are also included. The institute provided government data from healthcare workers and immigration officials on controlling the spread of the coronavirus during the pandemic. They have also raised over $1 million in funding from Netherlands' Rockstart, Telenor's Grameenphone and angel investors.
Three people from Bangladesh have been honored under the social impact category. They are co-founders of 'Awareness Threesixty' – Rizvi Arefin (26) and Shami Chowdhury (26) and Ahmed Imtiaz Jami (27) of Abhiyatrik Foundation.
Rizvi Arefin and Shami Chowdhury founded Awareness ThreeSix, a Kuala Lumpur-based service organization committed to improving people's lives by bringing together young people. The organization now has 1500 volunteers in 23 countries around the world who undertake various environmental initiatives ranging from hand washing, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) workshops. So far, over 150,000 people have joined their campaign. Rizvi and Shami's work has previously been recognized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The names that come next are Jahin Rohan Rajin (22) and Rizwana Hridita (28). They are co-founders of the start-up 'Hydroquoplus'. Established in 2018, this Dhaka-based organization works with safe water. Various government institutions and service organizations use their technology to deal with water quality.
Earlier, Jahin devised a technique to identify water quality and microbes in water by using artificial intelligence (AI). In 2020, this young Bangladeshi technician was included in the list of 17 young leaders or 'Young Leaders' of the United Nations who work to improve people's living standards.
