Kamal Quadir | |
---|---|
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Born | 1971[1] |
Citizenship | Bangladeshi |
Education | |
Occupation | CEO of bKash Limited [2] |
Known for | Founder of bKash |
Relatives | Iqbal Quadir (brother) Khalid Quadir (brother) |
Kamal Quadir is a Bangladeshi American entrepreneur and artist best known for introducing e-commerce in Bangladesh by founding CellBazaar, [3] an electronic marketplace which, after reaching 4 million users, was acquired by Norwegian telecommunications operator Telenor in 2010. CellBazaar later was rebranded as ekhanei.com. [4] [5] He is the brother of Iqbal Quadir, who is an entrepreneur and promoter of the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in creating prosperity in low-income countries.
Quadir currently head of the company bKash, which provides financial services through a network of community-based agents and existing technology, including mobile phones. [2] bKash is the world's second largest and fastest growing mobile financial services company. [6] [7] He participated on the 7th Convocation Ceremony (2024) of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh as the Convocation speaker.
Quadir is a founding member of Open World Initiatives, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization of young thinkers. He is involved with Anwarul Quadir Foundation which recognises innovations in developing countries. He is a First Mover Fellow of The Aspen Institute. In 2009, TED selected Quadir a TED Fellow [8] and the World Economic Forum recognised him as a Young Global Leader. [9]
Quadir was an intern at Insight Venture Partners in New York, led the Business Development Division of Occidental Petroleum's initiative in Bangladesh and worked for New York City's Chamber of Commerce. He was also the co-founder and creative director of GlobeKids Inc., an animation company.
Quadir has completed his BA from Oberlin College and MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. [10]
He is also an artist whose art works are in the permanent collection of the Bangladesh National Museum and the Liberation War Museum.[ citation needed ]
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Grameenphone, widely abbreviated as (d/b/a) GP, is a telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh. As of December 2023, its subscribers span over 82.20 million. It is a joint venture between Telenor and Grameen Telecom. Where Telenor owns a 55.8% share of Grameenphone, Grameen Telecom owns 34.2% and the remaining 10% is publicly held.
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Grameen Telecom (GTC) was established in Bangladesh by Muhammad Yunus with a partial stake in Grameen Phone (GP) and registered as a Not-for-Profit Company, Limited by Guarantee, under Section 28 of the Companies Act, 1994. GTC launched the program of Village Phone that enables rural poor to own a mobile phone and turn it into a profit-making venture. The vision behind the village phone program was formulated by Iqbal Quadir, who was convinced that a mobile phone could become a source of income. Quadir worked with Yunus and the Norwegian company Telenor to make the program a reality.
Iqbal Z. Quadir is an entrepreneur and promoter of the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in creating prosperity in low-income countries. He has taught at Harvard Kennedy School and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the brother of Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur and artist Kamal Quadir.
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Ekhanei or ekhanei.com was a mobile-based online marketplace classified advertisements website of buying and selling property, gadgets, vehicles and personal items for sale. Tickets and jobs are also posted among other things. Starting in 2006 as CellBazaar, it was the first online free classified ads website in Bangladesh. By Alexa Internet ranking, as of August 2015, it was the top shopping site and the fifth business and economy website in Bangladesh. In 2017 the parent company announced to shutdown it.
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