Almost two years into the pandemic, the world is rethinking a lot of concepts that it took for granted in the pre-pandemic era.

SWAP, a recommerce digital marketplace in Bangladesh, has acquired a 49% stake in dropshipping e-commerce platform, BDHotDeals.com. The amount, however, was not immediately disclosed. According to the deal, SWAP will provide multiple services, such as strategic planning, operational skills, infrastructure, and provide brand value with its strategic investment. On the other hand, BDHotDeals will build a bridge between customers and retailers and search for the best local and global deals from brands worldwide. The partial acquisition will offer registered SWAP users and other customers the opportunity to buy genuine products from overseas in the most transparent way.

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk donated a total of 5,044,000 shares in the world's most valuable automaker to a charity from Nov. 19 to Nov. 29 last year, its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed on Monday.

Simcubator, an incubation program for local healthcare and education startups in Bangladesh, has successfully completed its three-day-long workshop ‘Simcubator Bootcamp 2022’ on February 13. The program was sponsored by the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland and SELISE, a leading IT consultation and software firm based out of Switzerland with offices in Dhaka.

Wander Woman, a social venture catering to female travellers from Bangladesh, has won a grant worth $22.5K at the UNLEASH Plus 2021 Program for “developing a revolutionary platform for female travellers in South Asia,” according to a press release.

Mokam, an initiative of ShopUp, has recently organized an event called 'Mokam Poribarmela, to celebrate the contribution of the retailers, wholesalers, and partners.

Bondstein Technologies Limited,a IoT company based in HiTech City Kaliakoir, Gazipur, Bangladesh, has secured an investment worth $1 million, led by Runner Trading Limited, a subsidiary of Runner Group. 

Bangladesh Angels Network (BAN), an angel investment network in Bangladesh, has announced another seed investment round led by Estonian angel investors, in Reverse Resources (RR), a SaaS platform to map, match and trace waste from textile factories to recycling and help fashion brands achieve full circularity by 2030. 

Bonton, a WiFi-sharing app, has been making strides in solving crucial pain points of the general internet users, especially for young individuals and businesses. 

On the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the iDEA project of the ICT Division is organising the Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2021, a reality show designed to discover and fund innovative startups through the participation of local and foreign contestants. 

Chaldal, the largest online grocery store in Bangladesh, has recently raised $10 million USD in its Series C round. The investment was led by Taavet Hinrikus, Co-founder, Wise; Sten Tamkivi, Chief Product Officer, Topia; and Xploration Capital, with participation from Mir Group. 

Bangladesh’s first-ever cross-border eCommerce platform, Aadi, is celebrating the Bangladesh cricket team’s T20 journey by offering free delivery of the cricket team’s T20 official matchday jerseys and official caps worldwide, with the global delivery support of DHL express. 

Fashol.com, a wholesale marketplace for retailers, collects products--fruits and vegetables--from different parts of the country at night, including the wholesale markets of the capital and brings them to the Fashol distribution centre. In the next step, products get sorted using in house sorting method and then goods are delivered to the retailer early every morning. Retailers get 5% -10% lower prices than the market price. Fashol.com also offers zero delivery costs to retailers.

Since yesterday, one of the most talked-about topics in Bangladeshi social media is industrial conglomerate Jamuna Group’s announcement of investing up to Tk 1,000 crore in the e-commerce platform Evaly. The sheer figure astounded many as it is the largest amount of investment the country has ever seen in its e-commerce industry. Initially, Jamuna Group will invest Tk 200 crore, and the rest in phases. 

Shikho, a Bangladesh-based edtech startup aiming to make high-quality education accessible and affordable, today announced the completion of a USD 1.3 million seed round of financing. This is the largest round raised by a Bangladeshi edtech startup yet.

However, just having co-founders is not enough. Having the right co-founders is crucial for your team to perform satisfactorily and your business to succeed in the long run. The challenge lies in finding the co-founder who is right for both- your business and yourself as a co-founder.

The Hon'ble State Minister of ICT Division Mr Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP enlightened the media about the present state and the future action plans of BIG 2021.

It took only about two years to translate an idea into a business and make Nagad the fastest-growing mobile financial service in the world, thanks to the adoption of state-of-the-art technologies and a disruptive approach, which also sped up the overall financial inclusion in Bangladesh.

The launching ceremony of the “Probashi” app was held on March 30, 2021 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm at the ball room of Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon. The chief guest of the event was the State Minister for Ministry of Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam, MP. The special guests were Kabir Bin Anwar, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Dr. Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, Secretary, Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, Hosne Ara Begum ndc, Managing Director (Secretary), Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, Tina F Jabeen, CPA, Managing Director & CEO, Startup Bangladesh Ltd, ICT Division, and Asif Ibrahim, Chairman, Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd.

Start Fund Bangladesh (SFB) is a £10m rapid emergency response fund that was created in 2017 with support from UK Aid. Modelled on the Start Network’s successful Start Fund, which activates funding within 72 hours of a crisis alert, it fills a crucial gap in humanitarian funding. It is accessible to local, national, and international member non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Bangladesh to respond early to under the radar emergencies.