FBS, University Of Dhaka Team Makes Bangladesh Proud in the Global Arena

Muhammad Saimum Hossain Achievement is the very word every single human being wants to have in the memoirs of his short life span. And when this word comes with the opportunity of glorifying ones motherland, there can be nothing more satiating! We, a small entrepreneurial team from the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), University of Dhaka had this lifetime opportunity to glorify Bangladesh just a while back! The team, Greennovation Technologies, comprised of Hasanul Qader Mirza, Mahadi Hasan Sagor, Badhan Mazumder, and led by Muhammad Saimum Hossain, had the opportunity to represent Bangladesh in the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) and the Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) in the months of February and March, respectively. GSEC and GSVC are basically business plan competitions among the best business schools from all across the globe. As a representative team of Bangladesh, we went to United States of America and India to compete with other countries of the world like the US, Denmark, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Nigeria etc. Against biggies like MIT, University of Oklahoma, University of Washington, Lahore University of Management Sciences etc., we had to present our business plan there in front of a diverse group of judges comprising of renowned entrepreneurs, academicians, venture capitalists, professional money managers, nonprofit business leaders, management consultants etc. We came up with a business plan that addressed the housing problem for the bottom of pyramid people, a burning issue for a vast majority in Bangladesh. Our business brings an innovative solution to this problem by offering affordable, locally sourced housing material Jutin. This eco-friendly and durable, jute-based housing material, (a great substitute of the locally known dheutin in Bangladesh), has made us one of the winning teams of both the competitions. GSVC, founded by MBA students at University of California Berkeleys Haas School of Business, has evolved into a global network of business students as every year a lot of students from different countries and backgrounds enter into this competition. This year, business students from 50 countries entered into the competition with their viable social business plans. In our regional final in India, we had to compete with 18 teams from India, Pakistan and Africa. It was the 10th of March when we could hear the name of our team, the exotic team from Bangladesh, as the champion team in the Asia Africa Regional Finals of GSVC. The sheer moment of happiness for that precise moment could not possibly be expressed in words! This

championship title was not the end of it. Our team is the one that is going to compete in the Global Finals in California on the coming 18th April. On the other hand, organized by the University of Washingtons Foster School of Business, GSEC is a leading-edge international social entrepreneurship competition where innovative and commercially viable businesses with social bottom lines are presented by the student teams from different countries of the world. Teams from 49 countries entered this year into the competition. Due to a number of difficulties, only one team member could attend the Global Finals there in Seattle, Washington, USA. Some really valuable practical experiences were gathered during the tour which included visits to leading global organizations like Microsoft Corporation, Washington Global Health Alliance, PATH, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation etc. Coaching and refinement of the business plan from famous social venture capitalists and exposure to an extensive network of professionals proved to be invaluable for Greennovation Technologies. Each year GSEC usually awards three teams in three main categories: Global Health Prize, ICT Prize, and the Grand Prize for Poverty Alleviation. This year Greennovation Technologies won the Honorable Mention Prize in the Global Health category with prize money of 5,000 USD. At the end of the day, it was not just about winning the championship titles; rather it was also about cross-cultural experience sharing and making a network of young entrepreneurs all around the globe to do something better for the society. But one thing for sure, throughout the tour all of us recognized a single line: Every moment feels precious when it comes to be the representative of your motherland.

The writer is a passionate social-entrepreneur and writes on behalf of Greennovation Technologies