Bangladesh’s first university campus-based Sheikh Kamal IT Business Incubator aimed at developing entrepreneurship and expanding the knowledge-based economy. It started functioning in 2017 and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July last year. Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology is located in a pleasant environment in Pahartali Union of Raujan Upazila, 20 kilometers away from Chittagong city.
About 220 entrepreneurs, trainees, freelancers and potential startups from incubators in infrastructure, logistics, technology, finance and Mentorship can help to transform innovative ideas into products and services to build a “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041. The objective of setting up the incubator is to create effective linkages between universities and IT-based industries as well as create opportunities for research and innovation.
At least 12 technology-based companies can operate in the incubator. At present, 9 technology oriented institutions have expressed interest in allotment of space. Among them, agreements have been made with three institutions named Delegit, Sims Interactive and Mistry Bazar. LG, Butterfly, Chaldal, RockOne IT Global ,AirB, York, Kligtech want to allocate space. The 10-storey incubation building has been constructed from July 2017 on 4.7 acres of Chuet campus at a cost of 117 crore rupees. Each floor has approximately 5,000 square feet of space.
The incubation building has a startup zone, innovation zone, industry-academic zone, brainstorming zone, exhibition center, e-library zone, data center, research lab, video conferencing room and a conference room.
There are also separate corners for banks and IT firms, cyber cafes, food courts, cafeterias, recreation zones, dispensation zones and media.The incubator also has an artificial intelligence lab, machine learning lab, optical fiber backbone and high speed internet connectivity.There are two separate four-storey dormitories named Sheikh Jamal and Rozi Jamal for male and female entrepreneurs. The two buildings have a total area of 40,000 square feet and each dormitory has 40 rooms.
Echarawa has a six-storey multi-purpose training building with a total floor area of 36,000 square feet. The multi-purpose training building has a state-of-the-art auditorium with a seating capacity of 250 people and four computer seminar rooms with a seating capacity of 50 people. A power substation and a solar panel have also been installed by the incubator.
