Shikho Founder and CEO Shahir Chowdhury has been selected as one of the Bloomberg's Class of 2023 New Economy Catalysts for democratising the Bangladeshi education system through game-based learning.

Founded in 2021, Bloomberg New Economy established the Catalyst programme with the goal of finding people whose innovations, efforts and objectives have a genuine shot at changing the world for the better.

Bloomberg New Economy's 2023 class of Catalysts recognised 20 such talented individuals and Chowdhury is one of them.

Chowdhury, the first and only Bangladeshi on the list, was chosen as part of the 2023 Class of Catalysts for his work as the founder and CEO of Shikho, a leading education technology company.

Bloomberg's editorial team selects the catalysts from founders, activists, entrepreneurs, policymakers, scientists, visionaries, even elected representatives whose work across business, philanthropy and government - especially in the emerging markets - demands recognition.

"Only about 80,000 of the 45 million school-age children in Bangladesh speak English, limiting their access to quality education, which is typically delivered in that language. To serve the millions who don't, Shahir Chowdhury founded Shikho, which created a digital learning system in the Bangla language," according to Bloomberg.

"Shikho's content involves gamification techniques such as points, leaderboards and virtual awards to make daily lessons, homework, exam prep, tutoring and skills development more engaging. The company says it has 1.7 million registered users, and Shikho is working on new offerings such as live lessons, tools for parents, and materials for university students and adults," it reads.

Chowdhury grew up in Dhaka before going to the UK for his undergraduate studies. He subsequently became a certified chartered financial analyst and spent 11 years working in UK financial services in London, first at Barclays and then at HSBC, where his last role was as a director at a UK private bank.

"I am incredibly proud that the hard work and dedication of our team is being recognised internationally," Shahir Chowdhury said.

"Personally, I am very grateful to have the opportunity to build for Bangladesh and represent the new Bangladeshi economy to a global audience. Bangladesh remains one of the last digital frontiers and we believe Shikho will continue to play a defining role in its future", he added.