Client Overview
| Client | Light of Hope Ventures (LOH Ventures) |
| Parent Org | Light of Hope — Founded by Waliullah Bhuiyan |
| Platform URL | ventures.lohbd.com |
| Purpose | SME & Startup Mentorship, Cohort-Based Training, Funding Matchmaking |
| Mentors | Ayman Sadiq (10 Minute School), Ishmam Chowdhury (Shikho), M Asif Rahman (WPDeveloper), and more |
| Funding Partners | Turtle Venture, Biniyog, WeGro |
| Stack | WordPress + Custom Post Types + Dynamic Cohort Registration Forms + Custom CSS + Micro-Interactions |
| Key Features | Dynamic Cohort Registration, Event System, Funding Matchmaking, Mentor Profiles, Premium UI + Micro-Interactions |
| Timeline | 2–3 Weeks |
| Industries | Manufacturing, AgriTech, Education, Tech/SaaS, E-Commerce, Health, Service Sector |
The Client
Light of Hope Ventures, also known as LOH Ventures, is a startup and SME empowerment initiative of Light of Hope, the social enterprise launched by Waliullah Bhuiyan. The organization was established to solve two related issues in the economic scenario of Bangladesh, the youth unemployment and the structural issues that have been created in the local businesses and industries that are hindering them from scaling. The founding belief is simple: the best solution to both problems is to support local founders with access to capital, mentorship, and network to scale globally.
The uniqueness of LOH Ventures is its mentor network. The platform is founded on the belief that only people who have actually created businesses can provide value to other founders. This is not just a theory, it dictates who makes the cut for the mentor roster. The in-residence mentors are Waliullah Bhuiyan (Founder, Light of Hope, 300+ founders supported), Nazmul Arefin Momel (Founder, ToguMogu) and Omer Sharif Ibney Hai (Founder, Next Leaders). The program mentors are Ayman Sadiq (CEO, 10 Minute School), Ishmam Chowdhury (COO, Shikho), M Asif Rahman (Serial Tech Founder, WPDeveloper, Startise, xCloud), Diptha Saha (Co-founder, Agroshift), Mahmud Rahman (Co-founder, WeGro), and M Manjur Mahmud (President, Datasoft Systems).
It works by working in a structured way with 6-month Cohorts: batch-based mentorship programmes where a group of founders meet regularly, receive individual feedback and are matched with financial opportunities. In addition to that, LOH Ventures organises stand-alone events such as investor meetups, pitching sessions and masterclasses. For funding, the platform links startups with partners like Turtle Venture (up to BDT 10 lakh equity investment), Biniyog (Shariah-compliant financing) and WeGro (agro-sector financing).
The Brief
This project was an idea and a set of requirements. Conceptually: show an organization that offers mentorship, cohort training, events and matching funding, and explain all of this in a manner that makes sense to a first-time reader, whether they are a founder seeking a program to join, an investor who is considering investing in the platform, or a mentor who is thinking about getting involved. The challenge was to create a multi-dimensional platform that was unified, not complicated.
On the technical side, the requirements were specific. The Cohort system was completely dynamic – each Cohort had its own page with details, dates, location, fee, and status (Running or Previous), and the registration form had to be linked to the specific Cohort that the visitor was looking at. Events required their own managed area with future and past events listed. The funding matchmaking part should be clear about the 3 partner organizations and help founders to know which funding pathway was applicable to them.
The client was also very clear about the design quality: high-end look and feel, micro-interactions that make the site feel alive and thought about — not a WordPress template. The site needed to convey to the public that LOH Ventures is a real, well-funded company that matches the expectations of the mentors that it attracts.
Specific requirements:
– Premium hero with animated or interactive elements communicating the platform’s mission
– Problem Statement section — Why SMEs struggle (access to finance, guidance, growth support)
– Impact statistics with animated counters — Startups Mentored, Industry Mentors, Investors & Partners, Programs & Cohorts
– In-residence Mentor profiles with LinkedIn integration
– Program Mentor showcase — high-profile names displayed with credibility
– Running Cohorts section — active cohort cards with status, dates, location, fee
– Previous Cohorts archive
– Dynamic Cohort Registration Form — contextual to each cohort
– Events section — upcoming and past events with individual event pages
– Funding Matchmaking section — Turtle Venture, Biniyog, WeGro with investment context
– Industry investment focus — 8 sectors Ventures invests in
– Collaborate page — for investors and partners who want to contribute funding
– Apply Now flow — primary conversion path for founder applications
– Micro-interactions throughout — hover states, counter animations, scroll reveals
The Challenges
Presenting a Multi-Dimensional Platform Coherently
LOH Ventures is not a one-stop shop. It’s a mentoring program, a cohort training provider, an event organiser and a funding match making service, all rolled into one. Each of these functions is geared towards a different audience, provides a different value proposition, and has a different conversion objective. The needs of a founder applying to a Cohort will be different than those of an investor who is looking at the Collaborate program, and will be different than that of a corporate sponsor who is considering event partnership. The primary design challenge was to create a homepage that would be attractive to all of these audiences, but not be overwhelming to any of them — or be a confusing multitude of offerings that the visitor has to figure out.
The Cohort Registration System
Cohorts are the main product of LOH Ventures. Each Cohort is a unique program and has different dates, location, fees, capacity and application requirements. New Cohorts should be launched and closed Cohorts should be shown at the site. A standard contact form on a generic contact page would have been inadequate as it would contain no context for the applicant’s registration for a particular Cohort and would require manual follow-up by the LOH team to set up basic information that should have been collected when they registered. The Cohort registration system needed to be completely dynamic: every Cohort page was to have its own registration form, and registration forms were to be submitted with context attached to them that was specific to the Cohort.
Mentor Credibility at a Glance
LOH Ventures’ mentor list is one of the most interesting and valuable assets that the company has — Ayman Sadiq (10 Minute School), M Asif Rahman (WPDeveloper, Startise, xCloud) are well known and respected names in the startup community of Bangladesh. A table of names, however, doesn’t mean anything. The mentor section had to give these guys enough information about them, their company, and their job so that a new person coming into the network would understand the quality of the network LOH Ventures has created. The section had also to be quick to scan for visitors who knew these names and wanted to know if they were part of the section.
Premium Design with Micro-Interactions
The client’s design requirements were very clear – high-end. If the platform was to look like a regular form, it would have taken away the credibility the mentor panel is building for itself and would have been a disservice to serious entrepreneurs who are applying to the platform. When it comes to digital design, premium does not just mean color and typography, it’s about movement. Micro-interactions: incrementing counter-animations as the visitor scrolls into view, hovering states on mentor and cohort cards to display the information in a smooth transition, scroll-reveal animation to introduce the sections one-by-one, not all at once. These are the details that make a site look considered as opposed to put together.
Events as a Live, Managed System
LOH Ventures hosts events of various formats including invited investors’ gatherings, open master classes and service showcasing sessions for specific industries. The event system needed to be made up of individual pages for both future and past events, it needed to appear on the homepage as a live feed of upcoming events and it had to be fully controlled by the LOH team without the developer’s involvement for every new event.
Design Approach; Premium UI & Micro-Interactions
The colour palette of LOH Ventures is dark and confident, featuring a rich, deep navy base colour and pops of vibrant orange and teal, which exudes a sense of seriousness and energy. This palette is right for a platform that’s at the intersection of high-stakes entrepreneurship and social impact – it’s not a community forum, it’s not a corporate bank, it’s purposeful and ambitious.
The mission is clear and unambiguous and is clearly set by the hero section: ‘Empowering the Next Generation of Bangladeshi Entrepreneurs’. The subline, ‘We help SMEs & Startups grow and create jobs through capital, mentorship and growth support’ is the most important question a first time visitor asks in the first three seconds of his/her visit. There are two calls to action, one after the other: Join Our Network and Apply for Funding. The two primary motivations of visitors are to seek funding and assistance from the founders, and to seek investment opportunities from the founders.
Micro interactions were applied throughout the site, not for decoration purposes. The impact counter section (Startups Mentored, Industry Mentors, Investors & Partners, Programs & Cohorts) uses animated number counters that activate as you scroll. This makes it feel more like a spotlight moment than a set of statistics, and it brings the visitor’s attention and makes the numbers feel earned. With Mentor and Cohort cards, the user can hover over the card to reveal such additional information as LinkedIn links, program dates, location, etc., without having to click on the card, which allows the user to view the full context of the card in a natural browsing gesture. Content is introduced progressively via Section reveals on scroll using opacity and transition to transform, which helps to create depth and pacing in the browsing experience.
The typography was chosen to reflect the platform’s bi-partite nature with a strong serif for the main headings, which will be used for the institutional authority and a clean sans-serif for all functional text, for easy readability at all scales. This combination of messages says that LOH Ventures is serious, is not a closed club, but it’s a good program.
| Design Element | Purpose & Implementation |
| Dark Navy Hero | Signals authority and ambition — sets premium tone on arrival |
| Animated Impact Counters | Scroll-triggered number animations — makes statistics feel dynamic and credible |
| Mentor Card Hover States | Smooth reveal of LinkedIn and company detail on hover — scannable without clicking |
| Cohort Card Interactions | Status badge (Running/Previous), date and location on hover — fast context for applicants |
| Scroll-Reveal Section Entries | Progressive content reveal — creates visual pacing and depth as visitor scrolls |
| Orange Accent CTA System | Consistent high-contrast CTAs — Apply Now, View Details, Collaborate — never ambiguous |
| Problem Statement Numbering | 001, 002, 003 format for SME challenges — editorial feel, not a bulleted list |
| Mentor Profile Grid | Photo + name + company + LinkedIn — credibility at a glance for Bangladesh’s startup community |
The Dynamic Cohort Registration System
The Cohort system is LOH Ventures’ business’s lifeblood. Every Cohort is a 6-month programme with a fixed start and end date, a physical venue (Regina Garden, Dhanmondi), an entry fee and a maximum number of participants. The organization will continue to roll out new Cohorts over time – Cohort 1 was launched from May to September 2025 and Cohort 2 was launched in November 2025. The site had to scale to accommodate this growth, and not require a developer for every Cohort launch.
The Cohorts were created as a custom post type in WordPress and structured fields for every piece of information a prospective cohort applicant would require: Cohort name, cohort number, cohort status (Running or Previous), start date, end date, venue, registration fee, program overview and what the cohort includes. This data creates a separate page automatically for each Cohort entry, without having to build each page manually for each new batch of entries.
The Registration Form; Contextual and Dynamic
The most crucial aspect of the Cohort system is the registration form. The registration form is contextually linked to each Cohort’s page, rather than being embedded in a generic contact page or a stand-alone contact form that is not linked to the program it is being used for. The submission will also be received from the founder from the Cohort 2 page with the Cohort 2 clearly indicated; no need to ask the founder which program they are interested in. This may sound like a minor detail, but at scale, it saves a lot of the programme team’s time in going back and forth with the client.
The form fields were created to collect the information LOH Ventures actually wants to know about an applicant – name, contact information, business name, stage of business, industry, and what the founder wants to gain from the program. The fields are specific enough to be useful but not so lengthy that they discourage the applicants from completing the application. The form is responsive to the mobile environment: large touch targets, single column layout on small screens, and clear feedback on submit action.
| Before | After |
| Generic contact form — no Cohort context captured at submission | Cohort-specific form on each program page — submission arrives pre-tagged with program details |
| Applicant had to be asked which program they wanted after submission | Program identity captured automatically — team starts evaluation, not clarification |
| New Cohort launch required building a new page from scratch | New Cohort = new entry in WordPress — page and form generated automatically from template |
| No structured applicant information — free-text messages only | Structured fields: business name, stage, industry, goals — useful data from first submission |
| Running and previous Cohorts mixed or absent — no clear status | Running/Previous status badges — applicants immediately know what is active and what is closed |
The Event System
LOH Ventures hosts events that are truly unique and cater to unique audiences. The Investor Meetup & Pitching Session is invitation-only and is a carefully selected event for founders who are prepared to pitch and investors who are actively considering deals. The Masterclass on Personal Investment is an open class. The AI-based Voice-Calling Solution Showcase is a product demonstration of a particular service industry. These are not interchangeable formats, nor could the event system be made to work with such diversity and present it in a coherent manner.
Events were added as a custom post type, and added fields for event name, date and time, format (open or invitation-only), venue, and description. The homepage displays upcoming events as a live strip, always up to date and always displaying what is next, and a link to the full events archive. Each event page contains all the information a potential participant would require, including a registration or interest expression form if one is available.
The event archive is separated into two categories; future events and past events so that the LOH Ventures team can develop a visible track record of events over time. It’s a credibility signal for new founders that for a platform in growth mode, they can demonstrate that events are happening on a regular basis, investors and founders are involved, etc.
Funding Matchmaking; Connecting Founders to Capital
Access to finance is the first and most important hurdle that LOH Ventures is identifying for SMEs and startups in Bangladesh. The funding matchmaking feature of the platform brings founders and three different capital partners, each with a particular founder profile and funding requirement.
| Funding Partner | Offering & Target Founder |
| Turtle Venture | Up to BDT 10 lakh equity investment, with access to mentorship and international expansion support — for startups with growth potential seeking equity capital |
| Biniyog | Shariah-compliant financing and knowledge-sharing — for founders seeking halal investment pathways and ethical business growth |
| WeGro | Tailored financing for agro-based businesses — farmers and agripreneurs seeking to scale and sustain growth in the agricultural sector |
The funding section was written to ensure that a visiting founder immediately knows which partner is relevant to them without having to read through the terms to find out what they are looking for. The two partners get their logo, a short description of their investment thesis and the kind of founder they invest in. The Collaborate page takes it one step further, by offering a channel for investors and partners to invest in the LOH Ventures ecosystem instead of only applying to invest.
The platform also highlights the 8 industries that LOH Ventures actively invests in: Manufacturing, Agriculture & AgriTech, Education & Skill Development, Tech, SaaS & Software, Service Sector, Health & Wellbeing, E-Commerce, and Emerging Sectors. This sector map provides a fast indication to founders if their business is in the platform’s investment focus or not, since the company’s founders’ applications are rejected if the business is completely outside of the focus.
Technology Stack
This project was built on WordPress, which was the obvious choice for a live, growing platform like LOH Ventures needed for content management flexibility. The LOH team should add New Cohorts, events and mentor profiles on a regular basis without developer involvement. The custom post type architecture (Cohorts, Events and Mentors as structured post types) guarantees that all additions are done in the right way and are displayed in a consistent manner throughout the site.
| Technology | Role in This Build |
| WordPress | CMS — Cohorts, Events, Mentors as managed content types |
| Custom Post Types | Cohort, Event, Mentor — each with structured fields and auto-generated pages |
| Dynamic Registration Forms | Contextual forms per Cohort — submission tagged with program identity |
| Custom CSS | Premium design system — dark palette, typography, card components |
| JavaScript / CSS Animations | Micro-interactions: counter animations, hover reveals, scroll-based reveals |
| Scroll Trigger Events | Impact counter animation triggers on viewport entry |
| LinkedIn Integration | Mentor profile cards with direct LinkedIn links |
| Event Management System | Upcoming / past events with individual pages and registration forms |
Pages & Sections Delivered
| Page / Section | Content & Purpose |
| Homepage — Hero | Mission statement, primary CTAs (Join Network / Apply for Funding) |
| Homepage — Problem Statement | Why We Exist + 3-problem SME challenge framework (001, 002, 003) |
| Homepage — Impact Counters | Animated: Startups Mentored, Industry Mentors, Investors & Partners, Programs & Cohorts |
| Homepage — Founder Message | Waliullah Bhuiyan profile and philosophy — 300+ founders supported |
| Homepage — In-Residence Mentors | Waliullah Bhuiyan, Nazmul Arefin Momel, Omer Sharif Ibney Hai |
| Homepage — Program Mentors | Ayman Sadiq, Ishmam Chowdhury, M Asif Rahman, Diptha Saha, Mahmud Rahman, M Manjur Mahmud |
| Homepage — Running Cohorts | Active Cohort cards with status badge, dates, location, fee, CTA |
| Homepage — Previous Cohorts | Completed Cohort archive — track record visibility |
| Homepage — Funding Partners | Turtle Venture, Biniyog, WeGro — investment pathway context |
| Homepage — Industry Focus | 8 sectors LOH Ventures invests in |
| Homepage — Advantages | Expert Mentorship, Access to Capital, Structured Growth Support |
| Homepage — Events Strip | Live upcoming events feed from event post type |
| Cohort Archive Page | All Cohorts with Running / Previous status filter |
| Individual Cohort Pages | Full Cohort detail + Dynamic Registration Form contextual to that Cohort |
| Events Archive Page | Upcoming and past events listing |
| Individual Event Pages | Event detail, format, venue, registration/interest form |
| Collaborate Page | Investor and partner pathway — contribute capital to the ecosystem |
| Apply Now Page | Primary founder application flow |
| Privacy Policy / Terms | Legal documentation pages |
Outcome
Now LOH Ventures has a platform worthy of its name and aspirations. The mentor roster, which includes names of real players in Bangladesh’s startup scene, is presented in a manner that instantly makes it clear to any founder who lands on the site. The Cohort system provides a scalable structure for the organization to run new programs without having to re-build the site for every cohort. Dynamic registration forms guarantee that each application comes with the context required by the team to process it effectively.
The high-end design and micro-interactions meet the client’s aesthetic mandate, and the site appears well-thought-out and alive, implying quality in the organization. This is not a superficial quality signal, it is a part of the value proposition for a platform that asks serious founders to invest 6 months and BDT 5,000, and asking serious investors to deploy capital.
The event system provides a live, managed channel for the team to highlight the activity and momentum that is created by investor meetups, masterclasses, sector showcases, etc., that are added to the event archive over time, establishing the credibility of the platform. In the funding matchmaking section, the founders are given a clear and structured introduction to three different types of capital, which can help to alleviate the confusion they sometimes face when trying to determine which type of capital is applicable to their situation.
| Before | After |
| No unified platform — mentorship, events, and funding presented across separate channels | Single cohesive platform covering mentorship, Cohorts, events, and funding — one URL, complete picture |
| Cohort registration handled via WhatsApp or email — no structured intake | Dynamic Cohort-specific registration forms — structured intake, contextual submissions |
| Mentor credibility not presented with sufficient context for first-time visitors | Mentor profiles with founding story, company, and LinkedIn — credibility at a glance |
| Generic design did not reflect the quality of the mentor network | Premium UI with micro-interactions — site quality matches the calibre of mentors on the platform |
| No live event feed — events announced ad hoc through social media | Managed event system — upcoming events live on homepage and events page at all times |
| Funding pathways unexplained — founders unsure which partner applied to them | Three clear partner profiles (Turtle Venture, Biniyog, WeGro) with investment thesis and target founder |
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