Elpida Global

Youth unemployment is a severe crisis across the world. In fact,even after achieving higher education,many struggle to find the appropriate jobs. In Bangladesh,over 5 million youths are still unemployed and lack the right skills for the right job. At the same time,the government envisions to depend fully on renewable energy sources by the next decade which equates to more infrastructure and jobs in that sector. Our venture Elpida Global,meaning ‘hope’ in Greek,tackles 3 crucial problems-youth unemployment,lack of skilled workers and energy crisis. It trains unemployed youth and connects them to jobs and entrepreneurial scopes in the renewable energy sector(starting with biogas). It's the first platform where youth can receive training and education with certification from professionals and experts and go on to start their own green business or become green employees. Through us,they can find meaningful sources of income,supply their own and their community's energy and enhance the nation's GDP. 

Over 4 million youngsters in Bangladesh were unemployed in 2018. The reasons delve deeper than lack of training, education, skills or proper job platform as many graduates even cannot find proper jobs. 

On the other hand, energy is another continuous crisis in many regions. Over 5.5 million families still literally live in the dark, without electricity. Moreover, green energy is the way to go. In fact, by 2025 the Bangladesh government plans to set up over 40000 biogas plants while Bangladesh Biogas Development Foundation (BBDF) will set up 1000 plants by 2022. Together this creates a job pool in the renewable energy sector that requires over 50,000 skilled workers.

Elpida Global is the all-rounder solution to 3 crucial problems:Youth unemployment,Lack of skilled workers and Energy crisis. It equips Bangladeshi youth with the right skills and connects them to jobs and entrepreneurial scopes in the renewable energy sector(starting with biogas).

For our pilot stage, we are planning to work with a community at Narayanganj with 20 youths, with the support of BRAC Urban Development Program,Bangladesh Biogas Development Foundation and Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. We plan to engage local government (City Corporation) as well in the future when we take off. 

When we were just in the brainstorming and research phase in 2018,we met with Kawsar,a 24-year old residing in the outskirts of Dhaka city and actively seeking for meaningful source of income to provide for his family.He told us that the jobs that he does find,throw a shade at his dignity and self-respect in the society.When we visited his home,we discovered the shockingly dilapidated condition of his household where his family still cooks on a wood-fueled clay stove and they often spend hours without electricity.Then we went on to meet 3 more youths in a community in Narayanganj and were able to form the crisis pattern.These visits and interactions gave us clearer perspective of the dire issues: lack of energy(electricity/gas), skills and jobs.Our solution Elpida Global tackles all 3 with an all-rounder plan.We will take in youths like Kawsar onto our platform,train them to equip them with the technical skills and knowledge and connect them with jobs or business scopes in the renewable energy sector.Through Elpida,Kawsar is able to gain the right skills,find the right job or even start his own business.Now he is able to lead a life of dignity,provide income to his family and energy to his community.    

Elpida Global creates the bridge between NEET(Not Engaged in Education,Employment or Training) youths to jobs and entrepreneurial scopes in the renewable energy sector with a 2-step plan:(1)Training to provide them with technical and entrepreneurial knowledge on biogas (2)Linking them to biogas employers and business opportunities. Elpida’s business model is designed to build a cohesive employment ecosystem with involvement of all our partners and stakeholders within well integrated and inclusive system. Our training hubs will be temporary as we will train across the country. Moreover, we will take support of various social welfare organizations in various locations for their infrastructural support for our classrooms and basic logistics like black/whiteboard, tables, chairs, etc. We will start off by selecting and training the youths via professional trainers provided by our supporters at Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. After training we will connect the youth to our other partners for employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. We aim to take the first step through our pilot plan at Narayanganj,a semi-urban region in Bangladesh with 20 selected NEET youths with logistical support of BRAC Urban Development Program and our technical advisor - Bangladesh Biogas Development Foundation. For a minimal fee of BDT 350, these youths will obtain a 15-day certification training from professional trainers. After completion of training, they will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be a green employee or a ‘greenpreneur’. We will match them with employers in the biogas sector and these green employees will start earning minimum of BDT.10,000 per month by working in plants. We will match the rest of them with an appropriate biogas self-business model. To support their or their finance we will match them with our partnered SME loan providers. On establishing their businesses, these greenpreneurs can expect to earn a minimum of BDT. 25,000 per month. As we step in to help improve their lives, these 20 youths who now have very limited income will start earning enough to sustain themselves and their families. In Year 2, after we break even, we want to develop a website called "GreenOpp"-the first ever jobs/business website specifically for green jobs and business opportunities for job seekers and recruiters in this sector. This website can also go on to be developed into an easily accessible smartphone application. Technology and innovative startups is the way forward so we want to inspire our stakeholders to engage in both.     

In Bangladesh, numerous technical training centres are already operational. However. Elpida Global will be the first ever innovative platform of its kind as it will be the first training and connecting platform existing specifically for the rapidly growing renewable energy industry. Naturally, we will gain the first-mover's advantage stepping into a nascent market that still requires more awareness creation. This advantage and the support of our expert board of advisors(comprising of officials from BRAC, BCSIR and BBDF) is what sets us apart from any emerging competitors. Our USP is that WE reach out to our target group through our hubs across the nation stationed at various supporting NGOs.Moreover,our green job/business website "GreenOpp" will be the first one ever across the entire world, designed specifically for jobs and business scopes in the renewable energy sector.Our solution not only hits 3 painpoints (lack of skills, jobs and energy crisis)but also empowers youth to discover the entrepreneurial spirit in them to provide energy for their own and their community's usage.   

Through our initial visits,surveys and interactions with the youth, we have discovered that most of them were unaware of what renewable energy exactly is. There is a lack of basic knowledge.This results in them not understanding the fact that green collar jobs or green energy business are a meaningful source of income.This could be due to the gap in the education they received.So the first step is awareness creation- to give them a basic idea on what exactly is the sector all about.This can be done through conducting free seminars in the target location before starting pilot.The workshop will educate the attendees on green energy sector, our project plans and the future it could bear for them.

By 2025, we will have created over 15,000 meaningful income opportunities and improved the lives and living conditions of 10,000 families.

As our number of green employees and greenpreneurs continues to grow, by Year 2, we break even and become cash flow positive.By Year 3, we start to spread across Bangladesh and explore opportunities in other demanded renewable energies: solar and hydropower.As we branch out, we will develop a “GreenOpp” or Green Job and Business Opportunities Portal where our partners and trainees can post and search for jobs and businesses.By Year 5, with our feasible model, we spread across the globe to other countries with high unemployment rate.By 2030, we will have created over 15,000 meaningful income opportunities and improved the lives and living conditions of 10,000 families.For a developing country with high unemployment rate like Bangladesh, skill-development is crucial.Our impact goes beyond just skill and knowledge training. (impact ecosystem). It positively affects the environment, living conditions and future workforce as well. (SDG 1,7,8,9,12) 

Like any budding startup, our first barrier at the moment is the lack of funding. Our plans are set and we have met with esteemed experts and professionals who are engaged in the renewable energy and youth development fields. However, we are unable to kickstart our pilot due to lack of funding. The technical binding is finding enough land space for biogas plants for our entrepreneurs. Market barriers may arise when other competitors join in. Solar power is also a more popular source of energy in this region so popularizing biogas initially will be difficult. But over the next 5 years, the core idea is to create jobs, empower youth to start their own businesses and contribute to the energy sector.  

For our pilot stage, we are saving up to at least start off with our own funds. We will require around $1000 to start and train 20 youths. We are reaching out to relevant private and government entities for funding through our network of advisors and supporters. For our greenpreneurs who do not have their own land to build their biogas plants, we will provide land leasing through leasers and the support of local government. We can also link them to SME land loan providers to buy small portion of land for their venture. It is easier and more cost effective to establish a biogas business and one can earn more by selling the biogas. Thus through our operations and once our greenpreneurs and green employees are established, we can prove these facts first hand to tackle market competition from other sources of energy.     

Our core Elpida Global team constitutes of 4 members.Nafisa Faruque is Chief Executive Officer.As team captain,she leads and oversees overall functions.Maryan Karmoker is Chief Operations Officer. She looks into our business model,operations modality and further development scopes.Clement Dipro Adhikary is Chief Marketing Officer.He oversees marketing and branding functions,along with partnerships and our target group needs.Finally,our Chief Financial Officer-Nazmul Ahsan.He looks after our financial projections,costs and fund management.Besides our core team,we receive extensive support from Bangladesh Biogas Development Foundation and Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.They provide us with professional trainers for conducting our classes for the youth.

All the team members have been extensively involved in several extracurricular activities throughout their university life. Nafisa has led several teams in business competitions and a university club from an administrative level position so she possesses the skills to manage the team and business and organize activities for mutual benefit of all parties involved. Maryan has been working from a young age. She has been the youngest General Secretary of a Student Exchange organization under the US Embassy and organized various charitable and non-charitable events for social welfare. Clement has a degree and a knack for marketing and branding. His keen instincts and knowledge of the industry has been the foundation of setting our business canvas. Finally Nazmul is the cool-headed numbers guy. A finance major, he figures out our costs and weighs them against our benefits to give us the go-ahead for any plan or project.   

Together, all four of them bring a unique set of skills that can be used to run their social business venture Elpida Global. Moreover, they share a common dream-to improve the lives of youths just like them by empowering them and equipping them with the right skills to find the right sources of income. 

Initially, for our idea design phase, we worked with BRAC Social Innovation Lab. They are like a social startup incubation hub and helped us to improve our idea and shape it to a more feasible and cost-effective form. Next we started working with Bangladesh Biogas Development Foundation. Currently they are helping us with finding market opportunities and funding. They are also keen to partner with us in the future if we can pull off our pilot. They also helped us to connect with Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research who will provide us with professional trainers for our classes and certification for our trainee youths. Finally, we also receive support from BRAC Urban Development Program as they can provide us with classroom and logistical support for our pilot in Narayanganj. 

Our business idea consists of two stages:Training:Training our selected youth about business and technical knowledge about renewable energy sector.Matching:Matching our trained youths to employer from renewable energy sector and also with our financial partners to help them start their own businesses.Our trained employees will be divided into–Green Employees & Green Entrepreneurs.We will match green employees with partner plants.We will match greenpreneurs with partner SME loan organizations,distributors,clients,etc.The main costs of our business lies in classroom rent,logistics and trainer salaries.Per trainee,we are spending $40 for training.For each of them,we will yield a revenue of $70 from employees and $95 from entrepreneurs.Elpida will make its model affordable YET profitable through 3 revenue streams-a minimal one-time registration fee of $4  per trainee,15% commission per month for 3 months from our partner employers for providing skilled workers and 15% service charge from our ‘greenpreneurs’ per month for 3 months.As our number of green employees and greenpreneurs continues to grow,by Year 2,we break even and become cash flow positive.By Year 3,we spread across Bangladesh and explore opportunities in other demanded renewable energies:solar and hydropower.As we branch out,we will develop “GreenOpp” or Green Job and Business Opportunities Portal where our partners and trainees can post and search for jobs and businesses.By Year 5,we spread across the globe to other countries with high unemployment rate.By 2030,we will create over 15000 meaningful income opportunities and improve the lives and living conditions of 10000 families.

We require a funding of $1000 to kickstart our pilot plan.The main costs of our business lies in classroom rent,logistics and trainer salaries.Per trainee,we are spending $40 for training.For each of them,we will yield a revenue of $70 from employees and $95 from entrepreneurs.Elpida will make its model affordable YET profitable through 3 revenue streams-a minimal one-time registration fee of $4  per trainee,15% commission per month for 3 months from our partner employers for providing skilled workers and 15% service charge from our ‘greenpreneurs’ per month for 3 months.As our number of green employees and greenpreneurs continues to grow,by Year 2,we break even and become cash flow positive.

We are looking for funding and guidance to run a new startup with a new idea that is not yet common in Bangladesh.

We aim to partner with partners who can provide us with trainers such as Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Grameen Shakti. We also want to partner with BRAC and other relevant NGOs for logistical and classroom support.