LAN hosts WeScale Sri Lanka mentor night

Speakers at LAN WeScale event

WeScale Mentors and Mentees

The Lankan Angel Network (LAN) recently hosted a Mentor Networking Night at Colombo’s newest hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, for the Sri Lankan leg of WeScale, a USAID-led program for Women Entrepreneurs (WEs) in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. 

Designed to support Women Entrepreneurs in scaling their tech-focused and tech-enabled businesses to the next level, WeScale is coordinated by the South Asia Regional Digital Initiative (SARDI), which is a part of USAID’s Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership (DCCP). Its partners include DAI and Accelerating Asia, along with LAN, Bangladesh Angels, India Accelerator and SAFAL. 

According to LAN Chairperson Chandi Dharmaratne: “Now is the time for Sri Lanka’s Women Entrepreneurs to take charge and help steer our economy to a brighter tomorrow. It is widely believed that, by increasing women’s economic participation in the workplace, Sri Lanka could potentially add up to $ 20 billion to its GDP by 2025. 

“So, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we as mentors plan to support the efforts of Sri Lanka’s WeScale participants at next month’s WeScale+ regional program. We also expect that LAN’s partnership in WeScale, and other, similar programs, will lead to a significant growth in job creation for our country.” Comprising an overall 12-week virtual program for women entrepreneurs, WeScale in Sri Lanka also features a 4-week intensive session where its Sri Lankan founders can take advantage of multiple opportunities to interact with budding and established investors.‍ 

Participating in WeScale Sri Lanka are: Ruwini Jayarathne, from Ruwini Jayarathne Jewellery (Jewellery); Dhanushka Karunarathne, from Ceylon Dhee Ayurveda (Beauty Care); Achinthya Neligama, from INGROW Holdings (Food Manufacturing); Draupadie Wickramasinghe, from Maja, a New Story (Fashion); Upeka Premathilaka, from Ample (Fashion);

Dinu Kadahetti, from Enhanzer (ERP Solutions); Thanuki Idangodage, from Body Doc Fitness & Wellness Pavilion (Fitness);  Nabeela Yaseen, from Stoned Jewellery (Jewellery); Shanika Sandeepani, from AGC Innovate (Construction); Pulani Ranasinghe, from Loons Lab (Software); Afrah Saldin, from The Saree Library (Fashion); Safiya Sideek, from Elements by Safiya (Gifting); Nishu Gunawardana, from Nehemiah Consultants (PR); and Tharini Dasanayaka, from Cesova (Software).

The most recent activity in this program was the Mentor Networking Night, which was held at the end of February 2023. This event entailed an evening of connecting and networking between WeScale participants and the program’s local mentors; affording the mentees the chance to ask specific questions related to scaling up their businesses, so that they could work towards becoming pitch- and investor-ready. 

Next, WeScale mentees have the opportunity to participate in the Investor Night, which will be hosted by LAN and is scheduled for 20 March 2023. During this upcoming forum, Women Entrepreneurs will benefit from direct access to a number of decision-makers in the Angel Investor and Venture Capital space, with the chance to pitch their business ideas and future plans to this highly sought after group.

Comprising a cohort of 16 Women Entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, WeScale’s Sri Lankan leg, which is overseen by LAN, is expected to be completed by the end of April 2023. This will be followed by a contingent of local finalists proceeding to the WeScale+ regional program for an additional 4-week stint of intensive learning and connecting. 

Regionally, 100 Women Entrepreneurs are in the initial stages of the program, with its final phase zeroing in on the program’s top 20 Women Entrepreneurs, overall, across all represented countries, with a mission to make them investment- and scale-ready.

WeScale’s Sri Lankan mentors support mentees in areas as diverse as HR (Virtusa’s Vice President for HR, Chandi Dharmaratne), Finance (AICPA and CIMA Sri Lanka Country Manager Zahara Ansary), Global Expansion (Hatch Co-Founder Nathan Sivagananathan), Logistics (Mountain Hawk Express CEO Chamila Bandara), Branding and Social Media, and Legal Advisory. 

Mentors include; LAN Board Director and CIMB former CEO for Sri Lanka Anarkali Moonesinghe, LAN Board Director, and KOMAR Director for e-Commerce Lahiru Pathmalal, LAN Board Director and PromoLanka Holdings CEO Adil Mansoor, LAN CEO and BOV Capital Principal Kishan Nadarajah, Yarl IT Hub Founding Member and Applova Inc Former Director for Operations Balathasan Sayanthan, SLTC Serial Innovator and Entrepreneur and Director of Planning and Operations Heminda Jayaweera, and Goodlife X Founder/CEO Randhula de Silva.