Kamal Quadir (born 1971) is a Bangladeshi American entrepreneur and artist best known for introducing

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

in Bangladesh by founding CellBazaar, an electronic marketplace which, after reaching 4 million users, was acquired by Norwegian telecommunications operator

Telenor Telenor ASA ( or ) is a Norwegian majority state-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the world's largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations worldwi ...

in 2010. CellBazaar later was rebranded as ekhanei.com. 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 founded

bKash bKash Limited ( d/b/a: bkash) is a mobile financial service (MFS) in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank PLC. This mobile financial service company started as a joint venture between BRAC Ba ...

in 2010, which provides financial services through a network of community-based agents and existing technology, including

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

s. bKash serves 78 million verified customers in Bangladesh which is a country of 170 million people. Quadir is a founding member of Open World Initiatives, a

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland-based organization of young thinkers. He is involved with Anwarul Quadir Foundation which recognises innovations in developing countries.

The Aspen Institute The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home. Its stated miss ...

selected him for Finance Leaders Fellowship as one of the global high-impact leaders in finance in 202

In 2009, TED (conference), TED selected Quadir a TED Fellow and the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

recognised him as a Young Global Leader.

Early life

Quadir was an intern at

Insight Venture Partners Insight Venture Management, LLC (commonly referred to as Insight Partners and previously Insight Venture Partners) is a global venture capital and private equity firm that invests in high-growth technology, software, and internet businesses. The ...

in New York, led the Business Development Division of

Occidental Petroleum Occidental Petroleum Corporation (often abbreviated Oxy in reference to its ticker symbol and logo) is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration in the United States and the Middle East as well as petrochemical manufacturing in the ...

'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 Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

and MBA from the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...

. He is also an artist whose art works are in the permanent collection of the

Bangladesh National Museum The Bangladesh National Museum (), is the national museum of Bangladesh. The museum is well organized and displays have been housed chronologically in several departments like department of ethnography and decorative art, department of history an ...

and the

Liberation War Museum The Liberation War Museum () is a museum at Agargaon in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which commemorates the Bangladesh Liberation War that led to the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan. History The Liberation War Museum began under t ...

Awards

* 2005: MIT Ideas Award * 2007: Tech Award for "Applying Technology to Benefit Humanity" * 2008: Global Mobile Award of the GSM Association in the category of "Best Use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development" ** Telecom Asia's "Asian Innovation of the Year" Award ** India's

Manthan Award The Manthan Award is an annual award for South Asia given in recognition of exceptional digital content creation. Nominations are accepted from the public and multiple awards are given in many categories. In 2011 ''The Hindu'' referred to the Mant ...

for "Best E-Content for Development" * 2009: "Young Global Leader (YGL)" by the World Economic Forum of Davos * 2015:

Schwab Foundation The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a Swiss Non-profit, not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 that provides platforms at regional, national, and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.Schwab Foundation for Social E ...

's Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 * 2016: Oberlin Alumni Awards – Distinguished Achievement Award * 2021: The Daily Star ICT Awards 2021 - ICT Business person of the year * 2021: Global Business CSR Awards - Best E-cash/money & CSR award, exceptional contribution to the welfare of people during the Covid period * 2023: Lifetime Achievement Award - ICT Ministry * 2023: Global high-impact leaders in finance - 2023 Class of its Finance Leaders Fellows * 2023: Entrepreneur of the Year - Bangladesh C-Suite Awards 2023 * 2023:

selected him for Finance Leaders Fellowship as one of the global high-impact leaders in financ

References

External links

Anuwarul Quadir Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quadir, Kamal MIT Sloan School of Management alumni American people of Bangladeshi descent Living people Oberlin College alumni Mobile telecommunications American telecommunications industry businesspeople 21st-century Bengalis 1971 births

Early life

Awards

See also

References

External links