BRAC Bank holds TARA Uddokta 101 Scale-Up Summit

Brac Bank brought together leading academics, development partners and women entrepreneurs at the "TARA Uddokta 101 Scale-Up Summit", marking a key milestone in its long-term agenda to strengthen women-led enterprise development in Bangladesh.

The summit highlighted the journey of the "Uddokta 101" programme, a flagship accelerator under Brac Bank's women banking segment "TARA", designed to equip women entrepreneurs with core capabilities in business management, financial literacy and market readiness.

Since 2021, the programme has supported more than 500 women entrepreneurs across leading universities in Bangladesh.

The daylong summit took place at Brac University today (13 May), bringing together entrepreneurs, academia and institutional stakeholders to discuss the impact of the initiative and chart its future scale-up roadmap to address the evolving capacity-building needs of business owners.

Implemented in collaboration with Brac University, East West University, Daffodil International University and Chittagong Independent University, the initiative has strengthened the bridge between academia and industry to develop scalable women-led enterprises.

The summit featured impact review sessions, networking engagements, panel discussions and strategic reflections on women entrepreneurship development and future scale-up pathways.

A key highlight of the event was the presentation of programme outcomes, showcasing participant progress in business formalisation, financial discipline, market access and digital adoption.

The programme was attended by Brac University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Arshad Mahmud Chowdhury; East West University Board of Trustees Chairperson Professor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin; East West University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Shams Rahman; Daffodil International University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M R Kabir; and Chittagong Independent University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M M Nurul Absar, among other distinguished guests.

Celebrating women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh at the summit, Brac Bank PLC Managing Director and CEO Tareq Refat Ullah Khan said the programme reflects a long-term commitment to advancing women's economic participation.

"Uddokta 101 is an ideal example of how industry and academia partnership can bring change in entrepreneurship development. We will enrich and scale up this accelerator programme and take this across the country to meet evolving capacity-building needs of aspiring entrepreneurs at the grassroots level," he added.

East West University Board of Trustees Chairperson Professor Dr Mohammed Farashuddin said, "We must thank Brac Bank's efforts to help women's power blossom for entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. The girl students at East West University earn more than a proportionate share in higher grades and in the Tk2 crore monthly scholarships. They are sober, serious, sincere, meritorious and enterprising."

Chittagong Independent University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M M Nurul Absar said, "We at Chittagong Independent University are proud to be part of this great initiative as a leading university beyond Dhaka. We firmly believe that this type of robust women entrepreneurship development training and mentoring programme, and partnership between industry and academia, will go a long way in supporting the socio-economic development of Bangladesh."

Brac University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Arshad Mahmud Chowdhury said, "Uddokta 101 is giving wings to dreams by transforming small beginnings into bold ambitions and limitless possibilities."

Daffodil International University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M R Kabir said, "Uddokta 101 is not only developing entrepreneurs; it is empowering women to become confident economic contributors and future change-makers of Bangladesh."

The summit also recognised partner universities and contributors for their role in co-designing and sustaining the initiative, with tokens of appreciation presented as a gesture of shared ownership.

The event concluded with a collective reflection on the programme's future scale-up roadmap, emphasising deeper collaboration among financial institutions, academia, entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners to advance women-led enterprise development across Bangladesh.