Bangladesh Startup Investment Report 2022: A Year in Review

The Russia-Ukraine war amid a global economy recovering from the pandemic has resulted in supply-chain issues around the world. These have led to uncertainties rising globally, with climbing inflationary pressures and recessionary phases looming in the majority of economies around the world. As a result, startup funding has seen a downward trend in even the biggest startup hubs around the world, with a projected year-on-year decrease of 30%, from USD 630 Bn in 2021 to a forecast of USD 439 Bn in 2022. 

Bangladeshi startups saw a similar downward trend in funding, raising USD 112 Mn in 2022, with an average ticket size of USD 1 Mn excluding the largest deal of the year (a USD 65 Mn deal between ShopUp, Valar Ventures, and Flourish Ventures). Remarkably, against what has been observed in the past decade, local institutions led the majority of funding in 2022 to fill in the gap from global sources – a trend pointing towards the growing maturity of the ecosystem.

The global economic downturn is predicted to continue until 2023, resulting in the funding slowdown to continue. What insights are revealed in the funding raised by Bangladeshi startups in 2022? What trends can we expect to see this year? What do industry insiders have to say about strengthening the Bangladesh startup ecosystem for a resilient future?

Learn more about the year-round Bangladesh startup investment trends in 22 in the latest report, ‘Bangladesh Startup Investment Report 2022: A Year In Review’, presented by LightCastle Partners, in collaboration with Startup Bangladesh Limited, Anchorless Bangladesh, Bangladesh Angels Network, and BD Startup Founders. This is part of a series of quarterly publications on the Bangladesh startup ecosystem.

If you are interested to learn more about the Startup Ecosystem of Bangladesh download full report × Email Address * Name * Organization * Position *

Some of our key findings from this report include:

• Globally, startup funding has experienced a slowdown, raising USD 439 Bn in 2022. Startups across the globe saw a year-on-year drop of 29% in 2022, due to the recent global economic conditions owed to post-pandemic recovery and the Russia-Ukraine war.
• Bangladeshi startups raised a total of USD 112 Mn in 2022. Compared to the previous year, 2022 saw a 74% drop in investments, reflected more significantly in the second half of the year.
• Through 46 deals, 40 unique startups were funded in 2022 by 20+ investors. Among these, 26 deals were headed by investors at home. With the majority of the deals taking place in the early-stage rounds, the ecosystem reflects to be still at a maturing stage.
• Investments into Bangladeshi startups averaged at USD 1 Mn. This average excludes the USD 65 Mn deal secured by ShopUp from Valar Ventures and Flourish Ventures in Q2 of 2022.
• Startups in Financial Services (Embedded Finance/Fintech) took the lead raising the most investments in 2022, while Logistics & Mobility, Education, and E-commerce and Retail saw the largest number of deals in the year.

About Our Partners:

Startup Bangladesh Limited is the flagship venture capital fund of the ICT Division and the first and only venture capital fund sponsored by the government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. 

Anchorless Bangladesh is a New York-based early-stage venture capital fund dedicated to investing in critical businesses that empower Bangladesh’s socioeconomic growth.

Bangladesh Angels Network is the country’s first angel investing platform, founded with a mission to elevate the country’s startup entrepreneurs to the highest level. 

BD Startup Founders Group is the leading startup community of Bangladesh that connects the prominent active startup founders and ecosystem builders in the country.