Bicchuron – Renewable Energy Idea Startup Competition

Bicchuron – Renewable Energy Idea Startup Competition

With a vision to encourage the youth to share fresh and innovative ideas on the renewable energy sector, a nationwide competition was launched under the title ‘Bicchuron.’ The project was initiated on 21 October 2019.

Young Bangla, in association with the Power Cell (of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources) and Green Delta Insurance Company organized this competition. Seminars and workshops were held in universities to inform students to submit their ideas. Students of 50 universities and other educational institutions across Bangladesh submitted a total of 700 ideas.

The best 100 innovative ideas were selected for “Dhaka pitching,” which was held on 22 November. Thereafter, the top 30 teams received tickets to join the National Camp at Sheikh Hasina National Youth Development Institute in Savar on 8-9 December 2019. They participated in a two-day special workshop designed to train the teams on successful pitching and the basics of entrepreneurship strategy making. The National Camp started with an ice-breaking session where participants got the opportunity to rethink their career tracks.

Participants partook in the following sessions during a two-day national camp:

―   Business vs. Startup
―   Business Modelling and Market Analysis
―   Cash flow Management for Startups:
―   Sprint Session
―   Youth and Innovation
―   Emerging Technologies in Renewable Sector
―   Demo Pitch and Mentoring
―   “Corporate registration and process” Vs. “Policy-Based Challenges for Entrepreneur”

The Grand Finale of ‘Bicchuron’ was held on December 10, 2019, at the Sheikh Hasina National Youth Development Institute in Savar. The chief guest of the session was Mr Nasrul Hamid, MP, Honourable State Minister, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. The respected juries including the chief guest were Mohammad Hossain, Director General, Power Cell, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Md. Abdur Rouf Miah, Director (Sustainable Energy), Power Cell, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, SK. Munir Ahmad, Director (Management), Power Cell, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Faezanah Chowdhury, Managing Director, and CEO, Green Delta Insurance Company Limited, Janmajoy Dey, Assistant Coordinator, Centre for Research and Information (CRI) and Siddique Zobair, Member (Additional Secretary), Energy Efficiency and Conservation, SREDA.

In the pitching round of the Grand Finale, the top 30 participants presented their ideas and projects in front of the judges. Some ideas were converting ocean wave derived kinetic energy to electricity, electricity generation from speed breakers, hydropower water turbine, biomass fuel stove, creating electricity from footsteps pressure using piezoelectric crystals, electricity generation from soil and plant, using gas-petrol moderator, cleaning dart from solar panels using AI system, gathering electricity from rainwater force, using vertical axis wind turbine and eco-friendly cooler.

The top then winner were elected by the jury panel. The top 10 innovative ideas were announced at the end of the final pitching. Each winning team received BDT 500,000 as seed fund, along with technical assistance from Green Delta Insurance, to implement their initiatives.