We don’t see many researchers coming to the field of entrepreneurship in Bangladesh. Md Al-Amin is one of those who chose the arduous path of entrepreneurship despite having a bright future in research. After graduating in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Al-Amin sought research opportunities. Initially, he joined a public-private partnership project as an assistant manager. However, he had a very limited scope to flourish his expertise there. Finally, he could join as a Research Engineer in the Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology Under the ISP Project, University of Dhaka. While working there, Al-Amin realised that there are still many opportunities in our medical sector to improve. The Covid-19 pandemic situation converted his thoughts into beliefs. He decided to stay in Bangladesh over choosing his research career abroad.
His drive behind becoming an entrepreneur was to do something impactful for the medical sector and to continue his research in that field. He started working on his products and started his venture, PainTech Valley, which addresses the enormous global problem of physical pain and solves this with the pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) based pain relieving Electro-Healing device. According to the Bangladesh Physical Therapy Association (BPA), more than 20 million people in Bangladesh suffer from mild to severe chronic pain. A survey conducted by Rajshahi University shows that 62% of Bangladeshi farmers are suffering from lower back and muscle pain. Another survey jointly conducted by Bangladeshi doctors and World Health Organization’s (WHO) experts shows musculoskeletal disorders are increasing in Bangladesh. The above statistics prove that physical pain is a huge problem nationally, reducing our national productivity and hurting us financially.
But the journey wasn’t as smooth as it seemed. Md. Al- Amin started gaining entrepreneurial knowledge and seeking funds to grow his business. In this process, he applied for Bangladesh Youth Enterprise Competition & Incubation 1.0. During the incubation round, we found him enthusiastic and saw his potential in entrepreneurship. He was able to prove himself and became one of the winners of the competition.
Recalling his journey with BYEAH, Al-Amin said Bangladesh Youth Enterprise Competition & Incubation 1.0 directed him to think about ways to make his enterprise sustainable, socially inclusive and scalable in the future. In addition, Al-Amin talked about what impressed him most about the program. Firstly, the facilitators, as all of them were from relevant industries. Secondly, the one-to-one sessions on preparing financial planning and business model canvas. Al-Amin has rented office space after receiving the seed fund from BYEAH. He is currently running his further operation from there. Md. Al-Amin expects to have around 450000 BDT as net profit in a year.
