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Around 60 university students and aspiring entrepreneurs took part in a daylong programme at Dhaka International University (DIU) on Tuesday, learning how to test business ideas and navigate policy and regulatory issues that could affect their ventures.
The Campus Incubation Bootcamp and Smart Policy Reform Lab was organised by Preneur Lab Youth & Innovation Trust with support from Atlas Network as part of StartKoro Season 5.
The programme focused on helping participants identify real problems worth solving and determine whether potential customers actually need their proposed solutions, according to a press release.
Mentors Alamin Pranto, director of Start2Scaleup, and M. Ashraful Tanvir, head of operations and administration at Preneur Lab, led the sessions, while university faculty members joined as guest speakers.
Participants worked through ideation, market research, customer needs assessment, product validation and the development of a minimum viable product (MVP).
The Smart Policy Reform Lab focused on the policy and regulatory environment facing young businesses. Participants discussed barriers affecting startups and small businesses and proposed recommendations for improving the business environment.
StartKoro aims to support young entrepreneurs from the initial idea stage through validation and development of their first product to establishing viable businesses capable of creating employment.
The fifth season has so far engaged more than 365 entrepreneurs, who have launched over 60 new businesses, while Preneur Lab estimates that around 200 jobs have been created.
The organisers said entrepreneurship training alone may not be enough if licensing, taxation and access to finance continue to create barriers for young businesses.
Across five Smart Policy Reform Labs, participants have submitted more than 260 recommendations. These will be synthesised into policy research focusing on business registration, licence validity and SME finance.
The programme also launched the StartKoro AI Hub in July, an AI-powered platform offering guidance on business registration, licences, taxation and business planning in the Bangladeshi context. By September, 100 entrepreneurs had accessed the platform.
The organisers plan to expand the incubation programme from five cities to 10 and publish the policy research.
The initiative aims to help build a more decentralised startup ecosystem beyond Dhaka while encouraging young entrepreneurs to see policy engagement as an integral part of running a business.