American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) provides significant financial assistance to the local community to support the start-up of financially and socially sustainable businesses. This support is delivered through a strategic, dual-pronged approach. Firstly, the university provides direct institutional support through its Business Incubation Center (BIC), which operates under the Dr. Anwarul Abedin Institute of Innovation (D2A2I) with a clear mandate to provide "seed funding" and "access to grants" for promising entrepreneurs. This direct support is often manifested as prize money in university-hosted competitions, such as the Cisco IoT Hackathon and the AIUB Architecture Week, where winners receive substantial cash prizes that act as initial seed funding. Secondly, and more expansively, AIUB acts as a crucial "financial broker" for the local start-up community. The university leverages its industry and government partnerships to bring major external funding opportunities directly to its students and local innovators. Key 2024 events, like the seminar on the ICT Ministry's RIC project offering "funding up to BDT 60 lac" and the workshop with Orange Corners offering "grants up to 5,000 euros", demonstrate how AIUB facilitates access to financial assistance far exceeding its own resources, thereby multiplying its impact on poverty reduction (SDG 1) and innovation (SDG 9).
Relevant Events and Initiatives
Seminar titled “Unlock Your Innovation Potential: A call for Research & Innovation By RIC”
On March 6, 2024, AIUB collaborated with the ICT Ministry to host a seminar on its Research and Innovation Centre (RIC) initiative, part of the national EDGE Project. This event is a prime example of AIUB providing access to local start-up financial assistance. The speaker explicitly highlighted the project's ability to provide "funding up to BDT 60 lac" for research and innovation proposals from students. By organizing this seminar, AIUB acted as a facilitator, directly connecting its students and local innovators with a major national-level grant and financial assistance program. This programme empowers entrepreneurs to develop solutions for real-world problems and build financially sustainable businesses, directly contributing to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
#AIUB #ICTMinistry #StartupFunding #FinancialAssistance #SDG1 #SDG9 #SDG17 #NoPoverty #Innovation #Grants
Link: https://www.aiub.edu/seminar-titled-unlock-your-innovation-potential-a-call-for-research--innovation-by-ric
AIUB-IQAC and AIUB Women Forum organized seminar on “Road to Entrepreneurship”
This seminar, held on March 25, 2024, in collaboration with Orange Corners Bangladesh, was a targeted programme to connect local start-ups with financial assistance. The event provided assistance by introducing entrepreneurs to the Orange Corners incubator, which offers a clear path to funding: "match grants up to 5,000 euros" in the incubation phase and "access to grants and soft loans up to 50,000 euros" in the post-incubation phase. By facilitating this connection, AIUB provides its students and local community members, especially women entrepreneurs (SDG 5), with a direct link to significant financial assistance to launch and scale their socially sustainable businesses. This initiative is a powerful example of leveraging partnerships (SDG 17) to fight poverty (SDG 1) by funding decent work (SDG 8).
#AIUB #StartupFinance #Grants #FinancialAssistance #SDG1 #SDG5 #SDG8 #SDG17 #Entrepreneurship #NoPoverty
Link: https://www.aiub.edu/aiub-iqac-and-aiub-women-forum-organized-seminar-on-road-to-entrepreneurship
AIUB Hosts the Cisco IoT Hackathon 2024
Hosted on November 2, 2024, the "Cisco IoT Hackathon 2024" provided direct financial assistance to local start-ups in the form of prize money. The event awarded "the first prize of 50,000 BDT," "second prize of 30,000 BDT," and "third prize of 20,000 BDT." This prize money functions as non-dilutive seed funding, enabling the winning teams to pursue their innovative projects, such as the "Smart Farm Management System," and develop them into financially and socially sustainable businesses. By sponsoring and hosting this event, AIUB facilitates the direct injection of capital into nascent, high-impact ideas, supporting SDG 1 (No Poverty) by rewarding innovation (SDG 9) that can solve local community problems.
#AIUB #Cisco #IoTHackathon #SeedFunding #FinancialAssistance #SDG1 #SDG9 #Startup #Innovation #NoPoverty
Link: https://www.aiub.edu/aiub-hosts-the-cisco-iot-hackathon-2024
