BML announces recipients of the Startup Grant

The Bank of Maldives (BML) has announced the winners of Startup Grant 2025. The grant, aimed at emerging entrepreneurs, offers each recipient MVR 500,000 to start or grow a business. 

The winners are: 

1. Rashi Park (Ibrahim Miflal Fayaz) 

Build an indoor children’s play park and family café in Addu City, Feydhoo. It will be the first facility of its kind in Addu, featuring a professionally designed multi-level play gym with slides, tunnels, a ball pit, and a toddler-safe area, alongside a parents’ lounge café offering refreshments, free Wi-Fi, and clear sightlines into the play zone. 

2. Rashu Plastic Project (Mohamed Mimrah) 

An initiative dedicated to transforming plastic waste into practical, sustainable products by collecting and recycling discarded plastics into innovative, market-ready items such as clocks, keychains, sunglasses, and more. The Recycling setup for this project will be established in V. Felidhoo. 

3. Ladybird Kindergarten (Shamma Nadheem) 

To establish an Islamic Early Learning Station as a pioneering educational initiative in Hulhumalé Phase 2, designed to provide high-quality, faith-based early childhood education for children aged 3 to 6. The project addresses the growing need for structured learning environments that integrate Islamic values with play-based exploration and national curriculum standards. 

The winners were selected through two competitive stages of evaluation. In the first stage, applications were assessed to shortlist the 10 most promising proposals. The shortlisted businesses were then required to present their business plan to the evaluation committee in the second round. 

Each year, two winners are selected to receive the grant, however, this year on the occasion of 10th year anniversary of BML Islamic, a third winner was selected to receive the grant. year marks the fourth consecutive year the bank has awarded Startup Grant to aspiring businesses.