Nagad becomes Bangladesh’s fastest unicorn

Nagad, a popular mobile money carrier based in
Bangladesh, has emerged as a unicorn startup only in four years of its
journey – the fastest in Bangladesh to reach this remarkable feat.

In recognition of the achievement, Tanvir A Mishuk, founder and managing
director of Nagad Ltd., received the “Fastest to Unicorn Award” from
Honourable Prime Minister of People’s Republic of Bangladesh Sheikh
Hasina at the inaugural ceremony of the two-day “Bangladesh Startup
Summit 2023” in Hotel InterContinental Dhaka on 29 July 2023, hosted by
Startup Bangladesh Ltd., the flagship venture capital company of the
Government of Bangladesh’s ICT Division.

Nagad has reshaped the country’s MFS industry with one after another
disruptive innovation and inspired confidence among people to embrace its
products and services that are convenient and affordable. In this way, the
state-owned mobile money carrier has established itself as the fastest
unicorn startup in Bangladesh.
Presenting a keynote at the startup summit, State Minister for Information
and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak lauded Nagad’s
contribution to building a smart economy in Bangladesh.
Founder and Managing Director of Nagad Ltd. Tanvir A Mishuk said, “The
way Digital Bangladesh is marching ahead we should have achieved the
unicorn status much earlier. Now, our challenge is to take our company’s
valuation to USD 2 billion.”
Increasing the valuation is not Nagad’s main target, rather, it has embarked
on its journey mainly to bring unbanked people under financial inclusion
and get them used to digital payments, he also, adding, “We have already
come a long way in meeting our target.”
The way payments continue to evolve in keeping with people’s changing
lifestyle, there is no denying the fact that cashless is the future. Bangladesh
government has taken many initiatives to attract people to digital payments.
To complement the country’s digital vision, Nagad is also working
relentlessly to introduce new products and services required to accelerate
the country’s transition to a cashless society.
To grow into a complete financial solution, the MFS provider is going to
establish a digital bank that will make available all financial services on a
single platform. The mobile money carrier has already prepared itself
accordingly.

“If we get the licence for digital bank, we will introduce collateral-free loans
for small informal businesses who now take loans from moneylenders at
40% interest rate per day,” said the Nagad MD.

If everything continues to go in the right direction, Bangladesh will emerge
as a Smart Nation by 2041, envisioned by PM Sheikh Hasina.