Ten Minute School
The reason I chose this startup is because this is the most successful Edu-Tech startup in
Bangladesh. Ayman Sadiq, the founder of 10 MinuteSchool, a visionary leader who has made
quality education accessible to millions of students across the country.
Ten Minutes School is the biggest digital educational platform that changed educational concept
in Bangladesh. It was founded in 2014. The goal of Ten Minute School was to identify some of
the major challenges like accessing quality education while breaking the geological barrier.
Even though Bangladesh’s school curriculum is pretty much the same across the country,
students in rural and urban locations have a tough time getting a quality education. They also
focus on delivering knowledge free of cost. They have social media pages like Facebook,
YouTube through which they deliver free education to students across the country. They provide
subscription based courses for SSC, HSC, Admission and Job exams.
They have made the life of rural students easier. Now they can get quality education like the
students of the capital and other cities.
Ten Minutes School partnered with one of the largest telecommunication providers in
Bangladesh, Robi, to improve their content with the necessary funding. This platform proved
that Edtech has the prospective to be the future of education. Due to the pandemic, Ten Minute
School’s revenue grew 12% in 2021. This year, Surge, Sequoia Capital India’s quick scale-up
program, has given 10 Minute School $2 million in early finance to expand its product and
technology.
iFarmer
Bangladesh is an agricultural country. Although the country has advanced in usage of
technology, agriculture is still pretty much antiquated. iFarmer uses technology to connect
farmers with suppliers and lenders. That is the reason why I chose this startup. The startup has
gained a lot of popularity in a short period of time.
Bangladesh is a very agriculturally dependent nation, and agritech enterprises are beginning to
flourish here. The biggest challenges for Bangladeshi farmers, however, are acquiring funding,
high-quality agricultural supplies including seeds, herbicides, fertilizers, etc., as well as clients to
buy their products. The largest agri-tech company in the country bringing answers to these
problems at scale is iFarmer, which launched operations in 2019. The platform allows farmers to
apply for loans, track their crop progress, and sell their goods to buyers. This Is one of the
fastest growing startups that are using technology to solve the hardship farmers are facing in
this country.
A total of $2.8 million has been raised for iFarmer, a full-stack agricultural platform that provides
services to farmers, retailers of agri-inputs, and consumers of agri-produce. The venture capital
arm of IDLC Finance, IDLC Venture Capital Fund, led the round. Startup Bangladesh Limited, a
venture capital firm supported by the Bangladeshi government, also participated and Millville
Opportunities, a New York based hedge fund.
Sindabad.com
Although E-commerce is blooming all over the world, Bangladesh is still lagging behind. Not
many e-commerce startups are sustaining in our country. The next startup is one of the few B2B
e-commerce startups that has done a great job in this country. That is why I have chosen this
startup.
Launched in 2016, Sindabad.com is the largest B2B e-commerce company in Bangladesh. It
was founded by Tahmidul Haque, Arafatul Haque, and Nayemuzzaman. For office supplies,
production, consumption, operating, and consumable goods, Sindabad has built an excellent
platform.
More than 2,000 small organizations and over 500 larger organizations use the services offered
by this platform. The company operates three warehouses and has been investing in developing
a hyper-local logistics approach to increase logistical efficiency. It has wide range of products
with direct-to-office delivery service. Sindabad offers competitive prices on its products. It has
an easy ordering process, which makes it easy for customers to Place orders. It also has a good
customer service which makes it easier to tackle every problems.
The course of two rounds, Sindabad received $8.3 million in funding. Aavishkaar, one of their
most recent backers, granted them $4.15 million in investment.