Kamal S. Quadir is a

Bangladeshi American Bangladeshi Americans ( bn, বাংলাদেশী মার্কিনী, Bangladeshī Markinī) are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis and form the largest group of Bengali Americans. Ban ...

entrepreneur and artist best known for introducing

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...

in Bangladesh by founding CellBazaar, 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. He is the brother of

Iqbal Quadir Iqbal Z. Quadir ( bn, ইকবাল জেড. কাদীর) is an entrepreneur and promoter of the role of entrepreneurship and innovations in creating prosperity in low-income countries. He has taught at Harvard Kennedy School and at Mas ...

. Quadir is currently heading the company

bKash bKash ( bn, বিকাশ) is a mobile financial service in Bangladesh operating under the authority of Bangladesh Bank as a subsidiary of BRAC Bank Limited. This mobile money system started as a joint venture between BRAC Bank Limited, Bangl ...

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

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

s. bKash is world's second largest and fastest growing mobile financial services company. Quadir is a founding member of Open World Initiatives, a

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, 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 The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. The institute's stated aim is the realization of "a free, just, and equitable society" through seminars, policy programs ...

. In 2009,

TED TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

selected Quadir a TED Fellow and the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

recognised him as a Young Global Leader.

Early life

Quadir was an intern at

Insight Venture Partners Insight Partners (previously Insight Venture Partners) is an American venture capital and private equity firm based in New York City. The firm invests in growth-stage technology, software and Internet businesses. History Insight Partners was fo ...

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. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

and Master of Finance from

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or 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 programs, ...

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

Bangladesh National Museum The Bangladesh National Museum ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় জাদুঘর), is the national museum of Bangladesh. The museum is well organized and displays have been housed chronologically in several departments like dep ...

and the

Liberation War Museum The Liberation War Museum ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জাদুঘর ''Muktijuddho Jadughôr'') is a museum at Agargaon in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, which commemorates the Bangladesh Liberation War that led to the indep ...

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 not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 that provides platforms at the country, regional and global levels to promote social entrepreneurship.Schwab Foundation for Social Entreprene ...

's Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 * 2016: Oberlin Alumni Awards – Distinguished Achievement Award

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 Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Bengalis

Early life

Awards

See also

References

External links