Abida Sultana

Co-founder, Onnosheba
Bangladesh

Abida Sultana is the co-founder of Onnosheba, a diner and catering company in Chittagong, Bangladesh, that provides nutritious, affordable meals to low-income workers. A passionate advocate for social business, she is also a director at the Chittagong Social Business Center, where she supports aspiring entrepreneurs through project evaluation and implementation.

Abida holds a postgraduate degree in Marine Sciences and initially worked in her family’s aquaculture business. She also spent seven years as a science teacher and coordinator in primary and high schools.

In 2014, she launched Onnosheba as a pilot project to offer healthy packaged meals to students and workers, addressing the harmful effects of unhealthy street food. By December 2015, Onnosheba opened its first outlet, aligned with Dr. Yunus’ social business principles. Starting with only BDT 50,000, the business reached a turnover of nearly BDT 9.7 million in 2021. Onnosheba now plans to expand with a kitchen serving up to 25,000 meals daily.