"The Dependables" of the North South University has won Unilever's BizMaestros 2021.
This is the first time that any team from North South has become the winner of the business case competition.
The team of Taher Shabbir Mahuwala, Afnan Sayed and Abrar Mahir Ahmed will now have the opportunity to represent Bangladesh at the Global Platform of Unilever Future Leaders' League in the UK's London.
They will compete against the brightest talents across the world for the global championship and also be forwarded in the recruitment process for Unilever Future Leaders Programme.
Takia Mosharref Borsho, Takia Mosharref Nobo, and Saziea Afrin Heme of "Code Red '' from the Islamic University of Technology became the first runner-up.
"Leftover Pizza" – the team of Nazmus Sakib, Saleh Al Mamun and Tajwar Mohammed Al-Amin – from the Jahangirnagar University was named the second runner-up.
All these contenders from the top three teams will now be provided with the opportunity to avail of an internship under the Unilever Leadership Internship Programme.
The grand finale of the competition was arranged Tuesday at a city hotel, where six teams were evaluated by a panel of business leaders and industry experts, including Rupali Chowdhury, managing director of Berger Paints Bangladesh, Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Footwear, Zaved Akhtar, chief executive officer and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh, and KSM Minhaj, managing director of Unilever Consumer Care.
Zaved Ahktar said, "BizMaestros is grooming aspiring business leaders, which is fueled by Unilever Bangladesh's commitment of upskilling 1 million youth with future-fit skills by 2030. Seeing the talented finalists present realistic solutions to actual problems that the business faces is an indicator of how effective this competition is to prepare them for being the leaders of tomorrow."
To develop leadership quality and analytical skills for the future among the youths, BizMaestros kicked off on 17 October.
More than 340 students participated in the first round, where the three-member teams of final year undergraduates, submitted their unique solutions to the real business cases.
After a thorough assessment, the top 30 teams were forwarded to the semi-final and the top six teams to the final. The other three teams among the top six finalists were "Team Moho" and "Fan Club" from the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University, and "Team Sabertooths" from the East West University.