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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

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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 fromdifferent 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 wonthe 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