The Dhaka Times Desk Visa, the world leader in digital payments, has selected 5 startups from the Asia Pacific region for the Visa Accelerator Program 2024 to develop generative AI and embedded finance solutions.
Out of more than 300 applicants, only 5 startups including iFarmer got the opportunity to participate in this program. The remaining four startups were selected from Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.
For the next 6 months, iPharma, along with other startups (IPED, On-Us, Oplain and Cuco), will have the opportunity to receive training from Visa's product architects and develop and test new solutions to accelerate commercialization. The program will conclude with Demo Day. Also, a selected startup from this batch will get an opportunity to showcase its innovative solutions at the 'Visa Everywhere Initiative' event. Organized by TechCrunch, this innovation program will be held in San Francisco.
Visa Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal Country Manager Sabbir Ahmed said, “The Visa Accelerator Program acts as a link between innovation and its positive impact. This program empowers visionary startups like iFarmer to move into the future by combining technological excellence and financial inclusion. We will continue to support startups in the Asia Pacific region to realize their potential and thrive in the future.”
Fahad Ifaz, Co-Founder and CEO of iFarmer said, “We follow a constructive approach to meet the current and future challenges of the agriculture sector. The insights we have gained contribute to finding the right solutions for this sector. These solutions are contributing to improving the quality of life of everyone involved in the agricultural supply chain, including farmers. Our payment solutions are compatible with the Visa Accelerator Program. Through this solution, we are working to increase the scope of financial inclusion and help the underprivileged population of Bangladesh.”
Founded in 2019, iFarmer is a technology and data-driven startup that provides financial and direct-to-farm commerce consulting to farmers to increase their profitability. iFarm encourages financial institutions and individuals to invest in agricultural projects. In addition, iFarmer assists agricultural input firms in the distribution of products and services at the marginal level and helps processing companies and supply high-quality agricultural products to the export market.
This year's selected startups are working on cutting-edge solutions to harness the potential of new sectors such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Generative AI), Embedded Finance, Global Money Movement, Digital Acceptance and Loyalty of the Future. The Visa Accelerator Program has already helped many startups develop and implement various use cases.
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How to prevent dengue
Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral fever. This fever is different from other viral or bacterial fevers. However, this fever is not contagious in any way. This viral fever can occur alone or in combination with other viruses (chikungunya, yellow fever, Burma forest, flu, respiratory syncytial) and bacteria (pneumococcus).
Dengue fever is divided into two categories depending on the severity of symptoms and fever.
1. Common dengue fever
2. Dengue fever with bleeding.
In the case of common dengue fever, the following symptoms are mainly seen-
1. Sudden high fever lasting 2 to 7 days.
2. Severe headache.
3. Pain behind the eyes.
4. Along with the fever, red rash appears all over the body.
5. Severe pain in whole body as well as back pain.
6. Nausea or vomiting.
7. A rash or red bumps on the skin.
In case of dengue fever with bleeding:
1. Bleeding from nose, mouth or vomiting with high fever within 2 to 48 hours.
2. Fluid accumulation in chest or abdomen along with fever.
If any of these symptoms appear, seek medical attention immediately.
On the other hand
Wait at home for the first 3 days of fever. On the other hand, sponge the whole body with water every now and then. This will reduce the level of fever. Drink enough water and rest. After that, if the fever does not decrease or if it continues to increase after some time, consult a doctor immediately.
Things to do to prevent Dengue:
1. Try to keep the surroundings of the house as clean as possible.
2. If there are flower tubs or broken plastic bottles, can shells, tires or polythene inside the house, clean them quickly and drain the accumulated water from the flower tubs.
3. Spray or fog at least 3 times a week to kill mosquitoes.
4. You can keep mosquito repellent cream with you while going out.
5. After evening, younger and older members of the household should use mosquito nets.
6. Clean up any accumulated rain water, as this is the time when Aedes mosquitoes lay their eggs.
7. On the other hand, you can use mats along with mosquito nets to avoid mosquito infestation.
8. Since Aedes mosquitoes bite during the day, it is important to avoid sleeping with mosquito nets while sleeping during the day. Source: https://dmpnews.org
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