Hasnaeen Rizvi Rahman

About Hasnaeen Rizvi Rahman

Hasnaeen Rizvi Rahman is the Founder and CEO of Astha IT, a Bangladeshi custom software and IT outsourcing company he founded single-handedly in 2008. What makes his story stand out isn't just the company he built, but how early and how unusually his path toward it started.

A Working-Class Childhood in Dhaka

Rahman was born into a working-class family in Dhaka in the 1980s. As a child, his interests ran toward drawing, sketching, chess, and reading rather than anything resembling business.

He became national runner-up in the Bata School Chess Championship, and held onto the runner-up title in the National School Chess Championship the following year.

Chess, Code, and a First Sale

Rahman taught himself programming in ninth grade, well before most of his peers had any exposure to it. By the time he finished high school, he had already sold his first piece of commercial software.

That early, self-directed start gave him a head start most founders in Bangladesh's software industry didn't have.

A Detour Through the Netherlands

After completing his Bachelor's degree in computer science at North South University, where he graduated summa cum laude, Rahman joined a Netherlands-based software company as a programmer in 2005.

Working there gave him firsthand insight into how offshore development actually worked from the client side, knowledge he later brought back to Bangladesh and used to explain the model to prospective clients himself.

Founding Astha IT at 25

Rahman returned to Bangladesh, hired a skilled programmer friend, and started product development work together. In 2008, at just twenty-five years old, that work became Astha IT.

There was no large funding round behind it, just two people building software and finding clients willing to pay for it.

Building a Reputed Tech Group

Under Rahman's leadership, Astha IT has grown into one of the most reputed groups of tech companies in Bangladesh. The company has been recognized by the Government of Bangladesh as a top software exporting company in 2013, 2014, and 2020, a run of recognition spanning nearly a decade.

Rahman has also built a public profile beyond the company itself, speaking at TEDx events and working as a startup advisor and venture builder for other founders.

Staying in Bangladesh

In 2013, Rahman's family immigrated to the United States. He chose to stay behind in Bangladesh, largely because of his marriage and the company he had already built.

That decision, staying rooted in Dhaka rather than following family abroad, has shaped the rest of his career. Astha IT remains a Bangladesh-based company competing for international clients, rather than a Bangladeshi founder's company that eventually relocated.