7th Venture Engine finale hosts over 40 international investors
Venture Engine’s positive impact on Sri Lanka continues with more than 40 international investors participating at this year’s finale, with delegates in attendance from over 10 countries including India, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, USA, Canada and Australia.
It is also noteworthy that many delegates flew down specifically to assess the entrepreneurial talent highlighted at Venture Engine. Painstakingly filtered down over 12 intensive weeks of workshops and workshops, the 7th Venture Engine recently showcased its finalists TravelSpends, Kimbula Kithul, Porukki, LiveRoom, Loop Learning, Project 360, Niwadu Deals, Real Pixels (Avina), Tripmo, Strive.lk and SparkGrid, providing these innovative start-ups with unprecedented access to top international investors.
Notable attendees at 2019’s Venture Engine included Rohit Sipahimalani, Joint Head of the Investment Group and the Portfolio Strategy and Risk Group at Temasek International; Prashanth Prakash, Partner at Accel; Jan Metzger, Managing Director, Head – Asia Pacific Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory at Citibank; Dirk Van Quaquebeke, Founding Managing Director at beenext; Gopal Srinivasan, Managing Director of TVS Capital Funds; Melissa Nguyen, Country Head for Vietnam at Google; Lathika Pai, Country Head, Microsoft for Startups, SAARC and MENA, Microsoft; Tushar Singhvi, Principal – Investments at Crescent Group (UAE); Anil Joshi, Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures; John Winthrop Fitzpatrick, Head of Startup Ecosystem for Google Cloud Asia Pacific at Google; Jeffrey Chun Lok Yam, Principal at Integrated Capital; and Amena Arif, Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives at World Bank’s IFC.
Representatives from the following organizations also attended Venture Engine: Sri Kumaraguru Mill, The Brenta Group LLC, Signet Chemical Corporation, Dextrus, Vikatan Group, Singapore Angel Network, Jewelex India, AARK TechAccess, Sayi Consulting, Tradex LLC, KIBAR, Morph Ventures, Investopad/Good Capital, Sugee Developers Group, GIH, AdvantEdge Founders Fund, IAN Fund, IntrinsicID, CT Corp, Chapter 1 Ventures, Pomona, Coyne Properties LLC and Striders Corporation.
At the same time, members of this influential community were also given the opportunity to experience first-hand the rapid development taking place in the country.
Venture Engine, Sri Lanka’s pioneering entrepreneurship program, was founded by BOV Capital and the Indian Angel Network, with the event organized by the Lankan Angel Network.
“Not only were we excited to welcome many top international investors to Sri Lanka, but we were also pleased that several were willing to contribute significantly by participating in workshops and panels. We believe their efforts in mentoring and guiding our top local talent will greatly contribute to the success of this year’s batch of finalists as well as Sri Lanka as a whole,” commented BOV Capital co-founders Rajan Anandan and Prajeeth Balasurbramaniam.
Event sponsors included Platinum Sponsor – Aavishkaar, Venue Partner – Hatch, Telecommunications Partner – Dialog Axiata, Official Pay TV Partner – Dialog Television, Print Media sponsor Wijeya Newspapers, Digital Media Partner – Roar and Technology Partner – Microsoft and Microsoft for Startups.
Even though the current cycle of Venture Engine has concluded, its organizer the Lankan Angel Network will continue to accept new ideas for investment. Visit www.lankanangelnetwork.com for more details.
