GBG Bizfest 2019

The environment of Galaxy Public School on 5th January, 2019 was different than usual. The crowd there made me more excited. After all, it was the Biggest Startup Meet of Nepal. As soon as I reached Galaxy Public School premises, I could see stalls with banners everywhere. There were altogether more than 120 amazing startups of Nepal showcasing themselves. The event was organized by Google Business Group Kathmandu and WomenWill in main collaboration with Khalti Digital Wallet. The program was set to kick off at 10 AM. However, the program formally began at approximately 10:30 AM with our national anthem at The Everest Hall of Galaxy School premises.

Ms. Aditi Goyal (Co-Manager, GBG Kathmandu) delivered her speech where she mentioned the vision of BizFest was to impact “Household Name in Nepal”. And then, Ms. Faija Parween (Founder, Open Space Network) welcomed everyone with her speech informing the main reason behind WomenWill is to empower women economically. WomenWill is an initiative of Google for women entrepreneurs which helps to take their business to next level by implementing it with Google. As per Miss Parween, most of the women entrepreneurs are limited to social services in either NGOs or INGOs.

Mr. Amit Agrawal (Director, Khalti) mentioned that GBG Bizfest 2019 aims to promote startups in Nepal and encourage youths to find and explore countless opportunities available in Nepal. Mr. Agrawal also shared his recent experience where he received a phone call from a person at Dang who was asking the procedures to apply for GBG Bizfest and he announced that anyone can be a part of this community. He also stated that it’s all the community effort which plays a vital role to strengthen entrepreneurship in Nepal. There are many tech communities (Facebook Developer Circle, PHP Developers Circle, CSIT Association Nepal, Robotics Association of Nepal) present in GBG Bizfest. He also clarified, that GBG has tried its best to bring many startups into a single platform. And through GBG Bizfest, networking for entrepreneurs could be the best opportunity.

Mr. Shambu Pokhrel (Executive Chairman, Business TV) presented his keynote for every entrepreneurs to get prepared mentally first. There are many startups which aren’t being able to succeed. And the main reason behind this is not being able to handle the so called turning point in business. Mr. Pokhrel also expressed his commitment to support and promote local entrepreneurs in Nepal from personal and professional level.

There was presence of some of the most promising startups of Nepal in the BizFest ranging from agricultural startups to tech startups. All the stalls for startups present there seemed to be very crowded. There were also 4 workshops set for the day;

1. Growth Hacking by Mr. Amit Agrawal (Director, Khalti & Sparrow SMS; Manager, GBG Kathmandu)
2. How to Overcome legal Challenges in a Business by Mr. Pravin Subedi (Legal Consultant, Paramount Legal Advisory Services)
3. Google Sheet for Business Growth by Mr. Khan Tanjeel Ahmed (Operational Specialist, Pathao Limited)
4. Ads and Analytics for Business Growth by Mr. Raushan Jaiswal (Co-founder, Rara Theme)

After visiting all the stalls, I realized that there are countless opportunities at Nepal. But the only thing is we are not being able to figure it out. Throughout the BizFest, I experienced many creative startups which I was unknown previously. The trend of startups in Nepal have been growing day by day and this is the sign that people have begun to realize the opportunities present in Nepal.

Few startups present in the GBG Bizfest are mentioned below:

1. Kullabs
2. FoodMario
3. Dulwa
4. Offering Happiness
5. Fast Movers
6. EverestKart.com
7. FinLit Nepal
8. Ramro CV
9. Sroth Code Games
10. eBeema

I’d like to thank entire organizer’s team for inviting and having me as a visitor and letting me explore and learn about startups in Nepal. Also, I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Basanta K. Dhakal for assisting me with this article and Ms. Faija Parween for providing me event snap.

PS: This article is retrieved from https://aaganmaskey.home.blog