Bangabandhu Innovation Grant 2021 reality show starts with 65 startups

Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2021 reality show started with 65 startups and 26 of them will be selected as the best startups and get Taka 26 million as grant money.

Marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the iDEA project of the ICT Division is organizing the BIG 2021 to find innovations or innovative startups through the participation of local and foreign startups, said a press release here on Thursday.

To build a startup ecosystem and an innovation culture in Bangladesh, the iDEA project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) under the ICT Division of Bangladesh has been working since 2016.

The BIG 2021 is being held under the guidance and advice of State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak while a great attraction of this initiative is the breathtaking 13-episode reality show BIG 2021.

The breathtaking 13-episode reality show started airing from Friday (September 10) on private television channel DBC News while the estimated time for the closing ceremony of BIG 2021 is the last week of October 2021.

Prime Minister’s ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed is expected to address the closing ceremony of the reality show.

The reality show is being aired every Friday and Saturday at 8pm on the DBC News while it is also being live telecast simultaneously on the official Facebook page of iDEA httpswww.facebook.comLetsStartupBD and the Facebook page of Bangabandhu Innovation Grant (BIG) 2021 httpswww.facebook.comBangabandhuInnovationGrant.

In this initiative with startups, the contestants from the national and international levels will face the renowned business icons who will select the winners for each episode. A total of 26 startups will be selected from 65 startups in this reality show.

Later, they will be joined by 10 globally selected startups and the top 10 portfolio startups of the iDEA project, bringing together a total of 46 national and international startups in the BIG-2021 Grand Finale.

The best team will receive one BIG which means USD 100,000 as grant money. More than 7,000 entrepreneurs, innovators and startups from 57 countries including Bangladesh participated in the initial stage of BIG 2021, out of which this reality show is being organized with the best 65 startups.

The best 26 startups selected from this reality show will get a grant of Taka 10 lakh each and will also be nominated for the final round of BIG 2021. The best 26 startups of the reality show are getting a grant of Taka 26 million. In addition, the top 10 startups selected from the international stage of BIG 2021 will also be given a grant of Taka one crore by the organizing authority of BIG 2021.

The shooting of this grand programme which started on June 23, 2021 at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) in the city, lasted for five consecutive days.

The reality show was managed by Grey Advertising Bangladesh Limited and Windmill Advertising Limited and directed by Shuvro Khan of Ghuddi Animo. Senior Consultant of the iDEA project Siddhartho Goushami coordinated BIG 2021 under the leadership of the Project Director (Joint Secretary) of the iDEA Project Md Abdur Rakib.

The National Consultant for Communication of the iDEA project of ICT Division Shohag Chandra Das played the role of Chief of the TV Reality Show and contributed as the Co-Coordinator of BIG 2021.