Ygap Bangladesh: Backing Amazing Local Change 

Y

gap Bangladesh, part of the Australian development organization “YGAP”, is an organization that tries to provide support and guidance for the local entrepreneurs and finds solutions for local problems.

They try to promote entrepreneurship as they think it to be an effective and sustainable way to make people’s lives better by freeing them from poverty and disadvantages.

They intend to support the growth of early-stage startups and local entrepreneurs and indirectly pave the way for solving community-based problems or more simply, they just help the local entrepreneurs to refine and scale their solutions to local problems.

The ygap Bangladesh has already run 44 programs, supported more than 515 impact ventures and impacted the lives of more than 9,50,000 people since 2008. In Bangladesh.

They have been in operation since 2016. Ygap started their journey with an effort to provide a powerful opportunity to interested, passionate entrepreneurs to change the lives of Bangladeshis.

Apart from Bangladesh, ygap has arranged accelerators in Kenya, South Africa, and Australia.

Ygap Bangladesh: Steps of Working

For establishing the idea of them, they have 3 excellent steps of working –

1. Accelerate: The selected startups get to take part in a week live-in accelerator, where they strengthen their business models which turn their startups later into viable ventures.
2. Support: The selected teams receive expert mentorship, legal and accounting help, marketing support and access to small grants
3. Grow: After everything, the YGAP Bangladesh helps these entrepreneurs to gain more support and funding to grow their businesses lavishly 

In their official website, they described that for the ygap accelerator, they need applicants who would fulfill their conditions of –

• Being an entrepreneur whose venture can provide solutions for improving access to education or healthcare, creating jobs or building safer homes
• Being a local person who would understand the local problems better and try to solve them
• Having an early stage startup which must have less than 10 customers or clients and have been in operation less than two years 
• Having ventures and concepts to establish a better society which is free of poverty and making people’s lives better who are living in tough conditions 

After receiving all the applications, they select 15 teams at last which take part in the intensive accelerator that runs for 5 days. The participants go through a proven and developed curriculum which is defined by some expert facilitators.

Before ending the accelerator, all participant entrepreneurs have a youthful business model and their skills and confidence are trained sufficiently. Even after the finality of the accelerator, the participants receive ongoing support for the next 6 months.

They receive strategic advice, legal advice, marketing support, etc. Also, the ygap offers hands-on-support to the entrepreneurs to structure their businesses including budgeting, pricing strategy, cost analysis, revenue forecast, etc.

They try their best to help the participated startups to achieve sustainability and scale their businesses. The applicants have chances to apply for small grants (up to 60,000 takas) to overcome barriers coming in the way of their venture’s growth. 

If you have any query about this accelerator, then ygap inspires you to submit your questions by visiting-

www.ygap.org/accelerator