The Founder Institute, the world's largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, and Fenox Venture Capital, a global venture capital firm, have partnered to fund the next generation of aspiring entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, transforming new ideas into funded startups. The two Silicon Valley-based organizations pledge to guide local founders through the entire process of developing high-growth technology businesses in sectors such as mobile apps, digital health and enterprise software. The strongest companies from the upcoming Founder Institute chapter in Dhaka will each receive a $15,000 USD investment from Fenox Venture Capital upon graduation from the intensive 3.5 month program.
We are excited to launch a new chapter in Bangladesh under the guidance of two strong local Directors, Sajid Rahman and Minhaz Anwar. Fast growing markets needs the support of credible investors to build great companies. Investing in developing markets takes local knowledge, good contacts and specialized expertise, and we found an experienced partner in Fenox Venture Capital to help our graduates grow after the program is over." - Adeo Ressi, CEO of the Founder Institute
The Founder Institute and Fenox Venture Capital share a commitment to fostering innovation in emerging markets, which is demonstrated by multiple symbiotic activities in different parts of the world. The two organizations decided to partner first in Bangladesh.
We believe in the entrepreneurial potential of the Bangladeshi people, which is why we launched a fund focused on Bangladesh. When we saw that another Silicon Valley based organization took an interest in the market, we decided that this presented a great opportunity to collaborate on helping entrepreneurs in the region." - Anis Uzzaman, founder and general partner at Fenox Venture Capital
To qualify for the investment, Founder Institute graduates must be working full-time on their businesses, must have formed an initial team and must be able to show substantial progress on their final product. Graduate companies will be nominated from a panel of entrepreneurs and investors at the graduation ceremony in May, 2015.
The Founder Institute program in Dhaka starts on February 17, 2015, and applications are due by no later than February 11th, 2015. The program already has over 100 applicants with over 75% of the available spots in the program filled. Aspiring Founders from across Bangladesh are invited to submit their own application at http://FI.co/join to fill the last few positions in the program.
About Fenox Venture Capital
Fenox Venture Capital is a global VC, headquartered in Silicon Valley and focused on providing seed, venture, and growth-stage funding to emerging technology companies in North America, Asia, and Europe. Fenox VC invests globally in Internet, mobile, social, cloud and emerging technologies areas. Its recent investments include Dream Link Entertainment (DLE), Terra Motors, Tech In Asia, Expect Labs, ShareThis, SideCar, Lark, Jetlore, Meta Spaceglasses and Jetlore among others. Fenox has just announced a $200M fund focusing on Bangladesh and executing it's first investment into Pryio.com.
