Grameen Group and Japan-based technology company Wick Corp have established a joint venture to develop a digital platform that will let users earn points by viewing advertisements and use them to access essential goods, healthcare, education and job opportunities.
The venture, named Grameen-Wick, was announced at the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum in Tokyo on 28 October in the presence of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, reads a press release issued yesterday (29 October).
The announcement follows a memorandum of understanding signed between Wick and Grameen Group in June this year. The joint venture’s board has now been constituted, and it is preparing to develop its services and establish local operations, with a business launch targeted for around spring 2027.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and Hiroshi Osaki, former chairman of Yoshimoto Kogyo, have joined the venture’s advisory board.
Grameen-Wick will operate as a social business, using what it calls “positive impact advertisement” to link corporate advertising expenditure with improvements in people’s quality of life and efforts to address social challenges.
Through its proprietary smartphone app, the venture plans to return a portion of companies’ advertising expenditure to users as points. Users will earn the points by viewing advertisements and will be able to use them to access everyday products and services, including healthcare, education, and essential goods.
The platform will also offer information on vocational training and job opportunities. By connecting jobseekers with worker-sending agencies and relevant communities, the venture aims to support employment opportunities in Bangladesh and overseas and help people achieve economic independence.
Grameen-Wick has identified five priority areas: youth employment, skills development and entrepreneurship; women’s economic participation and empowerment; poverty reduction and improved living standards; improved access to healthcare; and responses to climate change and disasters.
The venture is also discussing potential collaboration with major companies, government agencies and organisations working in education, healthcare and other social services in Bangladesh. It aims to develop its business through partnerships across these sectors.
The Japan-Bangladesh Economic Forum was organised by the Japan External Trade Organization and the Japan-Bangladesh Committee for Commercial and Economic Co-operation, with support from the Bangladesh embassy in Japan.
Wick Corp is a Japanese software and technology company that develops enterprise platforms and digital systems.
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