Six more social businesses approved for investment

Six new business projects got a go-ahead to receive investment at the 116th Social Business Design Lab yesterday.

The Lab, organised by Yunus Centre, took place at the Grameen Bank auditorium in Dhaka.

Around 150 participants and observers from national and international organisations attended the programme.

Young entrepreneurs from the Grameen Bank borrowers' families presented all the projects, Yunus Centre said in a statement.

The businesses are grocery store Shopnopuri Store owned by Shahin Alam Babu; Famous Herbal & Beauty Parlour by Shamsun Nahar; MBV Hosto Shilpo Karkhana, a handicrafts store by Nur Alam Islam; Daliya Fabrics & Tailors by Mosammat Daliya; Nusrat Enterprise, a floriculturist, by Imamul Hossain; and Zannat Trading Corporation that sells consumer goods by Zakir Hossain Khan.

The business plans include details of the projects, including marketing and sustainability plans. Several rounds of discussions on how each social business could be improved and strengthened also took place.

The projects were approved for funding from various social business funds. These projects would be reviewed in the upcoming labs and through regular reports on Social Business Pedia, an online platform where people get information related to social businesses.

A total of 1,672 projects have been presented at the labs since launch of the initiative in January 2013.

Of them, 1,666 were approved for investment and most are already in operation, said Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, who chaired the lab.

It is exciting to see that so many ideas have now become a reality, said Yunus.

"It is also impressive to see the entrepreneurs present and defend their business plans in front of a distinguished international audience."

The next lab will take place on October 20.