The 71st Social Business Design Lab organised by Yunus Centre took place yesterday at the Grameen Bank Bhaban in the capital, says a press release. 
The programme was chaired by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, and brought together more than 130 participations from Bangladesh and abroad coming from diverse backgrounds. Professor Yunus welcomed the participants to the Lab and updated the audience  that 885 social business projects had been  presented in the 70 labs organised to date since January 2013, of which 860 had been approved for investment, most of which were already in operation. He said, “We would soon cross the 1000 invested projects mark”.
At the 71st Lab held yesterdaty, six new Nobin Udyokta - new entrepreneurs from Grameen Bank families - presented their 
business plans. Remarkably, four of the six entrepreneurs presenting yesterday were young women. 
Their presentations provided details of their business plans, details of the investment needed, monthly and annual profits, break even point for the business, and payback period of their investment. The projects were discussed in detail in plenary and in group discussions. All six were approved for investment through social business fund. 
In addition, Grameen Shakti Samajik Byabosha signed six new Nobin Udyokta projects and Grameen Kalyan also signed MoU with six new Nobin Udyoktas yesterday. 
At the end of the event, Professor Muhammad Yunus noted that it was very good progress that nearly 900 new social businesses projects had been launched in the two years since the start of the Social Business Design Lab in January 2013. 
He said that the vast majority of them were Nobin Udyokta projects where the young people running the businesses had undertaken that they would not be job-seekers, rather they would be job-givers, providing employment for themselves but also for others in their communities, which was an invaluable contribution to the national economy. 
Professor Yunus invited everyone to attend the annual Social Business Day celebration which would take place in 2015 on 28 May.