Spark iT finalists receive one million each in funding

By Rashika Fazali

The Spark iT award ceremony conducted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and the CCC ICT Steering Committee awarded four finalists – Atiral, Ridgecrest Asia AutosLK, Search Sri Lanka Portal and TopDocOpinions – Rs. 1 million each as a future investment for the project’s development funded by the four key sponsors, MAS Holdings, Brandix, John Keells and Dialog.

The award ceremony held at Cinnamon Lakeside earlier this week was an initiative to recognise IT entrepreneurs with start-up platforms and bring them forward into the public eye of corporate giants.

CCC Vice Chairman Suresh Shah stated: “It is very rare to see the birth of enterprise through entrepreneurs. When resources are limited, it’s fundamentally ideas that draw the new enterprise. It’s not easy to start such an enterprise; it’s even harder to discuss these ideas with your friends.”

He also advised these new entrepreneurs to go on with their journey with determination and as they go they will face obstacles. He further noted that success doesn’t come merely through ideas, but through hard work and effort.

In conclusion, he said: “The sector that you have selected, unlike other sectors gives you the opportunity to start up your business.”

The award ceremony shortlisted 10 entrepreneurs out of 60 applicants for their innovative products. The other six recipients were Bubland, C.G. Software, InnoWIDE, Otium Holidays Inc., Ridgecrest Asia FinanceLK and WELOVEIT Studio.

Speaking at the occasion, CCC ICT Steering Committee Chairman and Dialog Telecom Group CEO Hans Wijayasuriya stated: “The response to the Spark iT venture competition from ICT entrepreneurs has been most encouraging, and it is our hope that he program would be proven to be value adding to their business creation aspirations.

“The Spark iT program has been designed to provide winners with start-up funding in the form of investment awards from blue chip cooperates and to additionally provide a platform for all short listed contenders to engage with the membership of the Ceylon Chamber and at the upcoming Venture Engine (VE) competition with a view to taking their innovations to market.”

VE will be launched in May and will give the top 10 shortlisted project entrepreneurs a chance to be a part of this event which will help them not only in funding, but also enable them to gain advice from leading business personalities. It will further help fast track their businesses and gain potential investors from India and Sri Lanka.

Wijayasuriya further noted that what was initially missing in the market were talent, capital and innovation. In order to encourage more entrepreneurs to create unique products, he stated that we must drive that message and engage in a competitive nature first with the intention of finding potential investors.

The four finalists created innovative start-ups in sectors ranging from education, automobile, online trading and healthcare. Atiral created a cloud based social networking platform for educational institutes while Ridgecrest Asia AutosLK created a web solution tailored to meet the requirements for maintenance of vehicles. TopDocOpinions concentrated on linking patients to doctors from all over the world for treatments, second opinions, remote diagnosis just to name a few while Search Sri Lanka Portal gave you an insight on Sri Lanka.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara