B-Briddhi Hosts Investment Readiness Booster Workshop For Ecosystem Builders
LightCastle Editorial Wing
May 13, 2025
Dhaka, April 27, 2025 – B-Briddhi, a programme dedicated to developing a thriving impact ecosystem in Bangladesh, hosted a highly engaging Investment Readiness Booster Workshop at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka. The workshop brought together representatives from leading ecosystem builders and investment service providers, equipping them with the knowledge and tools to better support impact enterprises in their pursuit of growth and scale.
Expert-Led Sessions and Practical Application
The workshop, led by Bijon Islam, CEO of LightCastle Partners, alongside guest trainer Shoumik Shahriar, Assistant Vice President (AVP) at 10 Minute School. Shoumik Shahriar shared his expertise and provided invaluable insights from a founder’s perspective on navigating the investment and fundraising landscape.
The day was structured to provide a blend of theoretical knowledge and practical application, delving into critical topics, including financial modelling, innovative financing instruments, deal structuring, and valuation negotiation strategies. Here’s a glimpse into how the day unfolded:
Foundational Sessions: The workshop began with an Ice-Breaking Session, followed by an Agenda Walk-through & IR Curriculum Refresher, setting the stage for a day of focused learning.
Financial Modeling and Innovative Instruments: The first technical session provided a deep dive into financial modelling concepts, processes, and the integration of impact parameters for effective financial forecasting. Participants explored a range of innovative financing instruments and their potential to drive impact.
Designing Investment Structures: This session emphasised the importance of financial projections and introduced the Innovative Finance Toolkit, offering a walkthrough of selected tools and investment structures to design effective investment deals.
Investment Game: Where Would You Invest?: A highlight of the day was the interactive case study session where participants analysed two fictional impact enterprises in the healthtech sector. Divided into teams, participants acted as investors and had to:
Compare and contrast the two start-ups.
Decide which company to invest in and justify their decision with a clear rationale.
Determine the most suitable financial instrument (e.g., SAFE, Convertible Note) for their chosen investment.
Identify key clauses to include in the term sheet and investment agreement to protect their investment and align incentives.
The participating organisations presented their investment decisions, instrument choices, and rationale one by one. These rationales included a focus on financial projections and long-term growth and were highly engaging, showcasing a diverse range of perspectives and insightful approaches to investing.
Valuation & Deal Negotiation: This part of the session explored valuation methodologies, contextual factors influencing enterprise valuation, negotiation principles, investor expectations, and market dynamics specific to Bangladesh. The session was highly interactive, with participants engaging in discussions and simulations.
Perspective from Expert: Shoumik Shahriar shared valuable insights into the investment and fundraising landscape, providing guidance and practical advice based on his experience as a founder. He emphasised the importance of key financial documents and metrics for fundraising (Pitch Decks, MIS).
Key Insights
The Investment Readiness Booster Workshop yielded several key insights for the participants:
Capital Raise and Dilution: The emphasis was put on capital raising instead of the company’s valued at X (specific amount). The dilution % is important to be clear.
Valuation Negotiations Valuation is dependent on many factors such as team experience, product stage, traction, and industry. It is not linear maths.
Negotiation Space Keep a negotiation space – not just valuation but covenants, KPI, tranches and deal generation support.
Thinking Exit Thinking of exit pathways beforehand so that a force buy-back won’t be necessary. Other creative ways like monthly payments or revenue/NI share can also be utilised.
4 Key Tools – The expert speaker Shoumik Shahriar focused on four key tools for Fundraising: Pitch Deck, MIS, Data Room and Investor Update.
Do’s and Dont’s The important things that one needs to keep in mind before, during and after the outreach of investors.
Empowering the Ecosystem
Representatives from leading ecosystem builders and investment service providers, including Turtle Venture, TurnQi Advisors, Truvalu Bangladesh, SAJIDA Foundation, and De Tempete participated actively in the workshop. The event provided a collaborative environment, enabling participants to share knowledge, learn from each other, and build valuable connections.
