Duration

6 months

Min. Investment

৳ 10,000

Projected ROI

15% per annum

Risk Grade

B+

Repayment

5 instalments (monthly from 2nd month)

Overview

Apon Wellbeing is social-empowering business, which sets up shops with affordable products for Industrial workers. Setting up shops require an upfront investment, and Apon will utilize the funds to purchase products for their shops.

This is a “buy-and sell” (Murabahah) contract where investors can enjoy an ROI of 7.5%* over 6 months (annualized expected return 15%).

*subject to investment risk (details below)

Baridhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Apon Wellbeing Ltd.

৳ 1,365,000 Raised
৳ 0 Being Processed
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Raised:
136.50%
Goal: ৳ 1,000,000
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The Business

Accordion Content

Written by Apon Wellbeing – verified by biniyog.io ✅

Apon Wellbeing Ltd. is an Omni channel marketplace for industrial workers in Bangladesh. Started in 2017, Apon set up physical stores or digital ordering booths inside factory premises where workers can buy their daily necessities from a wide range of product baskets. It focuses on enhancing factory workers’ lives by providing affordable goods and services, free credit facilities and free health services, thus enabling more disposable income and making it unique in the market. 

Apon covers mostly RMG factories in Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayangonj and Ashulia areas. The market size for Apon Wellbeing spans 3.6 million RMG workers throughout Bangladesh. Estimating that each worker spends around USD 55 (~BDT 5,500) for monthly grocery consumption, the total market translates to a size of USD 2.4 Bn. 

Apon has received several awards and recognitions among industry giants:

  1. The Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge in 2019
  2. The Inclusion Plus Bangladesh by MetLife Foundation in 2018
  3. The Expo Live’s Innovation Impact Grant at the Expo 2020 in Dubai 
  4. Biniyog Briddhi of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Roots of Impact 

Currently, Apon is running 26 stores. They have 40 new factories in the pipeline. To open new factory shops, Apon requires working capital support in product purchase, and is looking to raise a portion of it through small ticket investors.

Office Location: Flat-3A, House-8, Road-2B, Block-J, Baridhara, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh.

Explore:  Facebook page  |  Website

Managing Director: Mr Saif Rashid

Saif Rashid, Founder and Managing Director of Apon Wellbeing, Ygap Entrepreneur, Fabric of change fellow, Ashoka fellow, Schwab social entrepreneur (World Economic Forum) and SOCAP entrepreneur.

He is exploring the right equation for scale and sustainability of social impact at Apon wellbeing – which won several awards including the Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Frontier Challenge, Expo2020 Innovation award, Metlife Foundation-Inclusion Plus award.

Previous to Apon he co-founded and was the CEO of JITA Bangladesh; a joint venture social enterprise of CARE International and Danone.communitie. Started his career at British American Tobacco and then quickly shifted to the social sector and spent most of his career around economic empowerment of women, market development etc at CARE International and through diverse consulting roles at IOM and IDE. He is a business graduate form Khulna University and studied business and system change at Harvard university and Santa Clara University. Currently studying Technology Innovation Management at Carleton University. His works and initiative has been highlighted in Business Standard, ICE magazine, BBC news, Guardian newspaper Forbes magazine, the economist and different social enterprise blogs and by different business journals in Oxford University, Michigan University, DFID, Business Innovation Facilities etc. 

  • Ample relevant experience and recognition from national and international organisations
  • Consistent sales volume
  • Firm grip over the sales channels 
  • Creating social impact by serving the underserved (industry workers) in an area with very high demand

The Contract

Accordion Content

The investment is for a period of 6 months, from mid December 2022 to end of June 2023.

Projected ROI (for the duration of project): 7.5%

Projected ROI (annualized): 15% 

biniyog.io will NOT charge the investors any fees for this service. 

Example: if someone invests BDT 100k in the opportunity, he/she can expect to receive a total of BDT 107.5k by end of June 2023.

  • Investors will go into a Murabahah agreement (sale contract) with Apon Wellbeing Ltd.for purchasing grocery and FMCG items.
  • It will be a “buy-and-sell” process where investors will first buy products through biniyog.io. Apon Wellbeing Ltd. will then buy those items from investors on credit and pay the amount over 6 months in 5 instalments.
  • biniyog.io will act as an agent for the investors and buy the products, take necessary ownership and risk of asset possession on their behalf, and then sell to Apon Wellbeing Ltd.
  • biniyog.io has proposed a price to Apon Wellbeing Ltd.for the products after considering a minimum 7.5% profit on actual cost of product procurement. Apon Wellbeing Ltd.has agreed to it.
  • Investors can expect to get their returns over 6 months in 5 instalments:
    • 3.0% by mid February’23
    • 3.0% by mid March’23
    • 3.0% by mid April’23
    • 3% by mid May’23
    • Final 88% by the end of June ’23

Shariah Compliance

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Investors appoint biniyog.io as an agent to deal on their behalf (Wakalah) and invest into the business through buy and sale of assets under an advanced buy-and-sell (Bai’ Murabaha) agreement.

biniyog.io‘s Shariah advisors have approved the basis and application of this Bai’ Murabaha contract.

Potential Risks

Accordion Content
  • Dependency on credit sales: Apon Wellbeing Ltd. allows its customers to buy products on credit. Their main customers (factory workers) find this opportunity very attractive. As most of them have to maintain a tight budget, they feel a bit relieved by the credit-purchase opportunity. In case of any significant missed payments from the customers, the cycle of the business will be hampered.
    • Apon’s strategy: The business coordinates with the payroll section of the industrial factory they run their shop in. This allows them to avoid mispayment issues. As a result, selling on almost fully secured credit allows the business to grow robustly and drives in significant revenue. Therefore, their credit sales strategy is a win-win for all the relevant parties.  

  • Thin profit margin: Margins on grocery items and FMCG goods are generally lower than most other items. Apon Wellbeing Ltd. also offers special discounts to its customers which helps the workers. However, this cuts out a layer of margin from the profit.
    • Apon’s strategy: The business is able to source many grocery items such as soybean oil, mustard oil, flour, salt, FMCG products, etc. at a very lucrative rate from the producer. They also receive international grants to manage their operational expenses, which is why they can operate at a low profit margin. They also work at scale, a single shop serves thousands of workers, which makes a thin profit margin viable. 

  • Inflation and macroeconomic issues: Industries have started to suffer the crisis caused by the price hike of raw materials and the cost of operations. According to many experts, there is a chance that the factories may start laying off workers in order to survive the recessionary blow. This will affect the sales of Apon Wellbeing Ltd. because industrial workers are their main customers.
    • Apon’s Response: Apon Wellbeing works with the most compliant factories, who are export oriented and need to maintain certain standards to receive international certifications. At the same time, they manufacture basic necessity products, which are always expected to have production demand (unlike luxury goods). These companies usually have healthy cash flow and balance to sustain. 

Possession of Assets: biniyog.io will buy the products on behalf of investors first and secure ownership. The products will then be handed over to Apon Wellbeing Ltd.within a very short time frame.

Apon Wellbeing Ltd. would have the right to reject the products due to quality etc. The risk is expected to be minimal since Apon Wellbeing Ltd. themselves will be choosing the items before biniyog.io buys them.

This is a necessary risk to ensure Shariah compliance of the transaction.

  • biniyog.io has done in-house analyses of the projected returns of the business and they are expected to be able to repay on time, if not hugely impacted by macroeconomic issues.

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Please note that the business may be given an incentive in the form of a discount on early repayment, which can only come in effect if the investors agree.

Following example is an illustration:
If the business repays within 4 months, the markup profit can be 6% (instead of 7.5%). This benefits both parties – the business has to pay back less and investors get their money back faster at a higher annual rate of return (e.g. 6% in 4 months means 18% per annum)

Apon Wellbeing Ltd. will share instalment cheques with biniyog.io. A personal guarantee security cheque will also be kept from the business owner.

Disclaimer

This investment opportunity is based on a first come first serve basis. Your investment is secured only after your transfer-proof has been received. If the investment quota is already filled, your transferred amount shall be returned.

Return of your capital is NOT guaranteed. Investment, by default, requires a risk appetite. Past performance is not a guaranteed indicator of future outcomes.

biniyog.io only acts as a consultant to the investor and the business, and does NOT manage funds for any party.

biniyog.io does risk assessment to a certain extent, but will NOT be liable if the business does not perform as per expectation.

For any questions, please use the chat icon on the right or leave a message.

  • 16-11-2022

    This campaign is now live on biniyog.io!

    The funding campaign has started. The target is BDT 10 lac, with a stretch goal of BDT 20 lacs.
  • The campaign period has been extended

    The funding target has been extended with a stretch goal of BDT 20 lacs.