2017 — Year in Review
We had a fantastic 2017! Travelled to multiple cities and met more than 150 aspiring startups. Here’s a look at some of our engagements that made an impact on us as well as the startup ecosystem in Sri Lanka.
February
Kotiyak Vatina Adahasak by Mobitel kicked off in August 2016. KVA is Sri Lanka’s first ever tech innovation based reality tv show. After 6 months of evaluations that saw more than a 1,000 applicants, 4 teams made it to the finale. The 4 teams were; AI Tech, Sure Cash, Smart Drill & Easy Deposit, with Easy Deposit emerging as the winner.
May
Startup Weekend returning to Sri Lanka and this time there was plenty of Vitamin Sea! You can read more about SWN here.
Inspire Sri Lanka was a competition for innovators who are passionate about utilizing technology for a better tomorrow. In line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) programme, Inspire Sri Lanka was an ideal opportunity for people to come together to help end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all via the use of technology.
More than 2,500 participants from all over Sri Lanka attended the Google I/O Extended event organised by Mobitell. We conducted a session on entrepreneurship and startups to what is currently the biggest audience we have addressed to date!
July
Organised by the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, Disrupt Asia is the first of its kind event held in the country. Disrupt Asia brings every single stakeholder under one roof to celebrate entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. This includes investors, mentors, government agencies, media and of course the startups. We were part of the Investor Forum, Workshops as well as Panel Discussions.
October
We mentored the teams short listed for the Seedstars Colombo edition. Seedstars is a global organization based in Switzerland that promotes, connects and invests up to $ 1 Million in startups in emerging markets. They are active in more than 50 countries across the world. Jendo emerged as the 2017 winner and will represent Sri Lanka in the Regional and Global Summits of Seedstars. You can learn about the startups here.
November
Yarl Geek Challenge is a proud product of Yarl IT Hub. YGC is one of the best, well-organised and executed startup events in Sri Lanka! Season 6 saw 25 teams battling it out for 3 days to secure a spot at the finals. Ten teams made it and they had two weeks to fine-tune their product before the finals. You can learn more about YGC Season 6 here & here.
Photo Credit: ReadMe
