Six New Business Launched at 715th Social Business Design Lab

Press Release

 The 715th Social Business Design Lab organized by Yunus Centre took place on 14 September 2017 at the Grameen Bank Auditorium with nearly 130 national and international participants from Germany, Nepal, India, Taiwan, Columbia. The Design Lab was chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

 Six new Nobin Udyokta (or New Entrepreneur) business plans were presented at today's Lab. The business plans included two tailoring shops, two handicraft shops, one handloom business and one poultry farm.

The project Fashion Tailors was presented by Md. Omar Faruk. Braving physical disability, Mr Faruk dreams to become a success with his Tailoring shop by utilizing 8 years of experience. Oitijjhyo Kutir Shilpa was presented by Oitijjhyo Porna Kristi. Ms Kristi, an unmarried young woman wants to realize her dream to become an entrepreneur with her handicraft shop. M/S Alamgir Textile was presented by Md. Alamgir. Mr Alamgir has honed his skilled in traditional handloom for almost 10 years and now wants to take his skill to the next stage.

Mahmuda Mimi presented her project Mahmuda Mimi Poultry Farm. Ms Mimi, mother of one, started her venture with  six months training and now wants to expand her poultry business. Md. Monir Hossain, a skilled craftsman presented his Sifat Handicrafts to expand his small scale operation into a fully fledged business. Ms Mourita Jahan, only 22 presented her Nasir Garments, has eight employees already. She produces readymade garments specially baby dresses and wants to expand her business.  All six entrepreneurs are children coming from Grameen Bank families.

All business plans were presented and discussed in detail. Those were then presented in groups for further review. All projects were approved for funding by their groups. The projects are joint ventures with social business funds and their progress will be monitored on www.socialbusinesspedia.com.

Since the Labs began in January 2013, there are now more than 20,000 projects which have been approved in the last 714 Lab programs for equity funding ranging from taka one lakh to five lakh.

 An MOU was signing at the design lab for setting up ‘Yunus Social Business Centre’ between Yunus Centre and National University of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Leon Shyue-Liang Wang, President, National University of Kaohsiung (NUK) and Nobel Laureate Professor Yunus signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.

Photo Caption 1: Investments into six New Entrepreneur (NU) projects were announced on at the 715th Social Business Design Lab Thursday, September 14, 2017. Entrepreneurs are seen with Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus at the lab. Photo: Nasir Ali Mamun/ Yunus Centre