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Third Batch of SMARTCAP Accelerator Program Completed

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LightCastle Analytics Wing
November 12, 2019
Third Batch of SMARTCAP Accelerator Program Completed

Venture Investment Partners Bangladesh (VIPB), Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) and LightCastle Impact (LCI) in association with Business Finance for the Poor in Bangladesh (BFPB) have successfully completed the SMARTCAP program with a Demo Day on July 20, 2019 at BRAC Learning Center, Rangpur. The Demo Day concluded an eventful month-long SMARTCAP Accelerator Program which began on June 23, 2019.

Roadshows

With the intent to capacitate Agro-Based MSEs, LightCastle Partners, in association with BFP-B (Business Finance for the Poor-Bangladesh), SFSA (Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture) and VIPB (Venture Investment Partners Bangladesh Limited) as consortium partners under SMARTCAP conducted 6 roadshows and a boot camp program in Rangpur, Dinajpur and its neighboring sub-districts. The first phase of the event was a 2-day roadshow held from the 24 to 25 of June in sub-district villages of Rangpur and Dinajpur. A total of 6 roadshows were conducted to invite people for joining the boot camp.

More than 300 farmers showed up in the road shows and many of them expressed their enthusiasm to join the Boot Camp. The interested farmers were invited and given details about the program by representatives of LightCastle Partners and Syngenta Foundation. The Roadshows were conducted by two teams to reach three locations a day, the teams traveled to Telengi Bazaar, No. 02 Kursha UP Complex, Panga Pirshaber Haat, Jamtoli Bazaar, Milon Shongho (Chowdhury Gopalpur School Field) and RDRS Bangladesh Area Office (Kishoreganj).

Boot Camp

Mr. Shahin adressing the participants during the boot camp

On June 27, SMARTCAP Boot camp was held at BRAC Learning Center (BLC) in Darshana, Rangpur. 49+ prospective ag-entrepreneurs came with enthusiasm to learn about business and its operation. The participants learned about the ways to increase the productivity, division of capital, provision of loans and tactics which would help raise capital and expand their business. Furthermore, they learned the basics of business planning and financing.

For the second half of the day, participants attended detailed sessions introducing the Farmer’s Hub Model and its projected growth potential. Every aspect of the FH Model was covered to give a holistic view of the entire business process, stake holders involved and methods of acquiring franchisee materials and products.

Consortium Personnel and participant during an interview session

The consortium team took key one-on-one interviews with the participants to evaluate them and their business acumen. The Ag-entrepreneurs were also evaluated on their interpersonal skills and business experience. The last session of the day was a question and answer session to clarify any confusions the participants had. Later on, successful farmer’s hub agri-entrepreneurs shared their experience with the FH Model. The day ended with the participants leaving the Boot Camp with fresh ideas and strategies, which would help their future enterprises to succeed, for years to come. The consortium interview panel short listed 36 Ag-entrepreneurs for the 45 day accelerator program scheduled to be held on the 1st and 3rd week of July.

Accelerator Program

As a part of the accelerator program the first residential sessions were held on the first week of July from 3 to 4. Workshops were conducted by industry experts, business consultants, investment advisers and technical experts for providing a holistic knowledge building and experience based learning. The workshops entailed both hands-on practical learning sessions and theoretical lessons. The hands-on learning sessions included:

  • Debate: Participants were divided in two groups and provided with relevant topics to debate on.
  • Critical Thinking: An MCQ based quiz was held regarding the topics covered in the theoretical sessions.
  • Case Study: A few real life scenarios were presented and the participants were divided into groups of two for solving them by coming up with realistic solutions.
  • Presentation: Participants were asked to present and explain their case study solutions.
  • Leadership: A volleyball match was held amongst the participants to nurture leadership, team building and people management skills.
  • Technology Adaptation: It discussed the use of mobile application to keep business transaction records.

Beside the above activities the theoretical sessions covered the following knowledge areas:

 

Figure: Theoretical knowledge building sessions

Second phase of the residential workshop was held on the 3rd  week of July from the 15 to 16 at BRAC Learning Center, Rangpur. During this period, participants mainly learned and practiced how to present their businesses in the form of pitches. The practice allowed participants to find their flaws and correct them, as well as hone their public speaking and presentation skills.

Demo Day

Finalists of the Demo Day

The Demo Day of SMARTCAP Investment program for Ag-MSEs was held on 29 July, 2019 at BRAC Learning Center, Rangpur. An esteemed panel of judges were present to grace the occasion. The panel consisted of representatives from Bangladesh Bank, VIPB, GBK Enterprise, Southeast Bank, NCC Bank, Meghna Bank, SFSA Bangladesh & LightCastle Partners.

The Demo Day started with a welcome speech by the consortium, followed by introductory speeches from the esteemed dignitaries and judges. The session began with the pitches from the participants. Through pitching the entrepreneurs described their profile, experience, business plan, current financial solvency, revenue and profit projections and capital requirement. After presenting, each participant faced a Q&A session from the panel and guests where different queries were asked regarding their business plan and they had to defend their stance. In the end, after an intensive evaluation 15 out of 25 Ag-entrepreneurs were short listed to receive investment from SMARTCAP.

The closing ceremony was followed by instructions from the consortium partners regarding the future proceedings of the program.

 


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WRITTEN BY: LightCastle Analytics Wing

At LightCastle, we take a systemic and data-driven approach to create opportunities for growth and impact. We are an international management consulting firm which creates systemic and data-driven opportunities for growth and impact in emerging markets. By collaborating with development partners and leveraging the power of the private sector, we strive to boost economies, inspire businesses, and change lives at scale.

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