FS Weekly #53: Big ideas for 2023, new funding news, and more

Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Society | 26 December 2022 | No. 53

Hello everyone, welcome to another edition of FS Weekly. 

This edition features: 

• 01 fascinating interview 
• 3 excellent articles from FS 
• Termsheet funding news
• 3 startups we are watching 
• And recommended readings — big ideas for 2023

First, an announcement: our friends at The UNICEF Venture Fund are looking to make up to US$100K in equity-free investments to provide early-stage (seed) finance to for-profit technology start-ups that have the potential to address climate change. Applications are open through 6 Jan 2023. Go for it if you meet the criteria. 

Future Startup Interview

BugRaptors and the business of software testing and QA services with Yashu Kapila, CEO, BugRaptors 

Yashu Kapila is the CEO of BugRaptors, a software testing and QA services company based in India. In this fascinating conversation, conducted over email, we talk with Yashu about her journey, the business of BugRaptors, the state of the company today and its ambition going forward, the software QA services industry, her lessons in company building, leadership, management, productivity and much more. 

FS essays and analyses 

1. 05 beautiful life lessons gathered from 05 founders

Learning is a continuous process. Because life is a continuous journey that throws various difficulties at us all the time, unless we are learning constantly, we’ll not survive. 

2. Some observations about Bangladesh’s startup ecosystem at the end of 2022

I’ve been covering tech and entrepreneurship in Bangladesh for some years now. I founded Future Startup to inspire and educate people and organizations to build and grow enterprises by building a business knowledge platform in the country. While we have come a long over the last few years, we could have done much better. The scene remains grossly underwhelming. 

This article is a set of observations where I try to see where we stand and what we can do to do better in the coming days. 

Termsheet: who’ve raised money

1. Transport-tech startup Shuttle raises $1.5mn in new funding: Bangladeshi transport-tech startup Shuttle announced that it has raised $1.5 million in new funding, bringing its total investment to $2.5 million to date. 

5. Pickaboo raises $1.5 million investment: Pickaboo, Bangladesh’s fastest-growing mobile, gadget, and electronics-focused omnichannel platform, announced that it has raised $1.5 million in pre-series A round from Startup Bangladesh Limited, the flagship venture capital company of the ICT Division of Bangladesh, and some other investors.  

Startups to watch 

December 2022 Edition: 03 Startups we’re watching

• Jahaji is a technology service provider for the inland water transport (IWT) sector in Bangladesh.
• MyFuelPump Limited is an on-demand online fuel delivery platform. 
• WeGro is a Dhaka-based agri-tech startup that says it aims to “revolutionize the archaic agriculture industry by integrating the latest technology in all aspects of the agriculture supply chain.”

Outside FS Ideas. 

1. Big Ideas in Tech for 2023: Venture capital a16z’s predictions for 2023

2. What 2022 meant for the world: The Economist looks back to 2022

3. Staring into the abyss as a core life skill

4. Good annual review template

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One more request, if you enjoy reading Future Startup, I would be grateful if you share it with other people who might find it inspirational and educational — post it on Facebook/LinkedIn, send it to your friends and Whatsapp group chats, and share it up. We’re a small publication, I can’t exaggerate how much it helps us to grow and do more great work. Thank you for reading.

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