Seedstars back in Sri Lanka to find best tech start-up

On 25 October, eight of Sri Lanka’s best seed-stage start-ups will compete to represent the country at the Seedstars Summit and win up to $ 1 million in equity investments and other prizes.

Seedstars World, the largest start-up competition for emerging markets and fast-growing start-up scenes, is coming to Sri Lanka for the third time, with the pitch event scheduled for 25 October. 

This year’s event is supported by the national partner, Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), key partners Exetel, Hatch Works and Hemas, ecosystem partner SLASSCOM, local partner Startup Sri Lanka, and media partner ReadMe.

The companies selected to pitch at the Seedstars Colombo event need to be less than two years old, have raised less than $ 500,000 in funding, and built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars team is searching for one additional criterion: the start-up’s regional and global scalability. 

Selected start-ups will give a three-minute pitch in English, in front of a jury made up of local start-up heavyweights, followed by another five-minute Q&A session. After a careful screening, the Seedstars team will shortlist eight of the best seed-stage start-ups in Sri Lanka to pitch on 25 October for the opportunity to compete at the Seedstars Summit that takes place annually in Switzerland. The jury panel that will help Seedstars select the most promising start-up in Colombo will be formed by Calcey Technologies Founder and CEO Mangala Karunaratne, Hatch Co-Founder Jeevan Gnanam, ICTA Program Manager Sachindra Samararatne, zMessenger Co-Founder and CEO Jayomi Lokuliyana, and Seedstars Associate for Asia Gabriela Fernandez Scala. 

In addition to the pitching event, the eight selected start-ups will take part in a bootcamp session on 23 October, where they will be involved in one-on-one meetings with local mentors. The nine mentors joining the bootcamp this year will be ICTA Project Manager Ahamed Nishadh, Mangala Karunaratne, Start-upX Foundry Program Manager Aloka Gunasekara, PODI JOBS Founder/Owner Yusra Aziz-Eliyas, Boost Metrics Ltd. Founder and CEO Joey Perera, Crowdisland CEO Chalinda Abeykoon, Radical Ledger Technologies Founder Chim Himidumage, Calcey Technologies Director – Sales and Product Marketing Mudith Uswatta, and Seedstars Associate for Asia Giovanni Corradini. 

ICTA CEO Damith Hettihewa said: “We are delighted to engage with Seedstars and SLASSCOM to host this year’s local pitching competition as the national partner. The ICTA has consistently supported the growth of Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem and believes that tech start-ups have the true potential to economically transform Sri Lanka. We encourage all tech start-ups to apply and make full use of this great opportunity to shine.”

The applications are open until 18 October. To register or for more information on Seedstars, please visit www.seedstarsworld.com/event/seedstars-colombo-2018 

For inquiries regarding the local pitching competition, please write to [email protected] 

Members of the public and press are welcome to join the fun and should register on the Seedstars Colombo website as an attendee.