BSIC appoints Waiz Rahim as its first MD and CEO
Bangladesh Startup Investment Company (BSIC) PLC, country's 39 banks-backed venture investment company for startups, has appointed Waiz Rahim as its first Managing Director and CEO, marking a significant step forward as the institution moves into the next phase of building Bangladesh’s leading institutional venture capital platform, reports a press release.
Under the guidance of Bangladesh Bank, BSIC was recently formed to mobilise domestic institutional capital for high-growth startups and help strengthen Bangladesh’s venture capital and innovation ecosystem.
The company has launched its first fund “Onkur”, a US$35m (Tk 4.25 billion) fund that will co-invest alongside domestic and foreign investors.
The fund size is expected to cross over Tk 10 billion in the next 5 years, supported by central bank’s guideline requiring all banks to invest one per cent of their annual profits into this startup equity fund.
Prior to joining BSIC, Waiz served as venture partner for Bangladesh at Sturgeon Capital, a London-based venture capital & private equity firm managing $300 million across Central Asia, Pakistan & Bangladesh. In that role, he was involved in investment sourcing, due diligence and portfolio development.
In 2017, he founded and led Deligram, an omnichannel e-commerce platform that was converting neighbourhood grocery stores into an e-commerce fulfillment network.
He had raised over $2.5 million in funding from institutional investors across Singapore and New York seeing first hand the challenges of raising foreign venture capital in Bangladesh.
He holds a degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California (USC).
At Waiz's appointment, Mashrur Arefin, chairman of BSIC and chairman of Association of Bankers Bangladesh said: “The appointment of our first chief executive officer marks an important milestone for the company. Waiz brings a rare combination of venture investing experience, entrepreneurial perspective and institution-building capability.”