ICTA’s “Disrupt Asia 2018” to feature top international start-up experts
Individuals from USA, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Bangladesh, Philippines and India will share their start-up experiences and insights
Disrupt Asia 2018, Sri Lanka’s Premier Start-up Conference and Innovation Festival, is set to feature several top international and local experts in entrepreneurship, policy, innovation and startups during the Conference to be held from 3.30pm to midnight on 11th August 2018 at the Trace – Expert City.
The Conference discusses the need for policy and strategy while entrepreneurs sharing their successes and failures will provide inspiration to those hoping to take the plunge. Experts from USA, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Bangladesh, Philippines, India and Sri Lanka will share their knowledge on AI, digital marketing, security and set the stage for disruptive thinking around STEAM education, creative industries and social entrepreneurship. Tickets for the Conference can be purchased online via https://disruptasia.today/buytickets/.
The Opening Keynote will be delivered by Glenn Robinson – Managing Director of XLr8 Andhra Pradesh Technology Business Accelerator (University of Texas at Austin extension). He will also be one of the panelists sharing his views on the topic “Strategy and Policy: Will It Change Anything?”Glenn Robinson has held executive management positions in the non-profit sector, as well as being a seasoned entrepreneur, having launched and successfully managed multiple start-up ventures. He directs all operations of the XLr8 Andhra Pradesh Technology Business Accelerator, in collaboration with the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and has successfully directed and implemented an economic development program in Chile, working with Chilean government and US multinationals. He is also a consultant to the National Science Foundation in Washington, DC, and has held Board of Director, Mentor and Advisor positions with various technology business incubators, start-ups and non-profits.
Participating in the panel discussion on “Disrupting Creative Industries” will be Pradeepa Jeeva. a Producer and Social Entrepreneur who is also the CEO of Jeeva Productions Inc and Head of Content Strategy at Snake Nation. She launched successful digital campaigns for bedsider.org and thetruth.com bringing over 3 million unique views to both campaigns. She was named in Variety’s prestigious 40 under 40 “Hollywood’s New Leaders: 2016” and during her time as Head of Development at Machinima Inc. she was also named by NBC Universal as “One of the 26 Asian Americans to watch out for in 2017”.
One of the panelists speaking about the topic of “Success in Failure” is Nirjhor Rahman – Country Director at YGAP Bangladesh. YGAP have supported startups such as Light of Hope, an education-based social enterprise and CriticaLink, a network of volunteer emergency First Responders. Nirjhor’s specialty is crafting and executing innovative strategies and partnership models and working with entrepreneurs and start-ups, NGO’s, multinationals and political leaders. He has led Bangladesh leg of a $4M Gates Foundation-backed project to introduce, pilot and commercialize new sanitation technologies in urban areas of Bangladesh, under Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), a UK-based NGO.
Interacting with the audience on the topic “Raising A Million Dollars” will be Ray Newal – Managing Director of Techstars India and Keith Wallace – Chairman and Managing Partner at De Investeerders Club. Ray Newal is a globally-inspired entrepreneur and early-stage tech investor who decided to become an entrepreneur after starting his career and gaining experience in sales leadership roles at DoubleClick, MSN, and Yahoo. In 2008, Ray started Jigsee, a startup dedicated to bringing new internet users in India and South East Asia online through streaming media applications which ran on popular feature phones. Having exited the company in 2015, Ray has been advising, mentoring, and investing in founders across the globe.
A Scotsman with a passion for entrepreneurs and deal-making, Keith Wallace founded the Dutch Investors Club (De Investeerders Club) where he focuses on joint investments within the Netherlands and beyond. Working with the Hivos Foundation, he was part of the team that founded Hivos Impact Investments, where he sits in the investment team and manages the portfolio companies of the Hivos Food and Lifestyle Fund (Southern Africa) and the Hivos Mideast Creatives Fund (MENA). Keith is also Global Ringmaster of “Get In The Ring”, an international entrepreneurial competition that takes place in over 100 countries. He is also a panelist of the “Angel Investment for Beginners” forum which takes place parallel to the conference.
The Closing Keynote will be delivered by Nick Marino Junior – Director of Social Change at TangoTaba mobile app that is used to find restaurants where every time a user checks-in at a restaurant on the app, TangoTab feeds a person in need. To date, TangoTab is available to use in 100,000 restaurants and has fed over 2.5 million needy people. Nick is also the Founder of MISSIOND, his Live With Purpose clothing line and Regly a new app for the service industry. He is the Co-Founder of Revolving Mind Media and will be opening his first restaurant, SubMarino’s in late 2018. Nick is also finishing his first book “Living With Purpose”set to be released in end-2018. Nick was named as one of the “Top Texans under the age of 30” back in 2016.
Organized by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), Disrupt Asia 2018 is supported by the Ministry of Telecommunication, Digital Infrastructure and Foreign Employment, International Partner – IKT Norge, Knowledge Partner – PWC, Supporting Partners – GIZ Sri Lanka, Payoneer, techStars and Trace-Expert City, Payments Partner – PayHere, Volunteer Partner – GudPpl, Eco System Partner – SLASSCOM, Makerspace Partner – Igniter Space, YouTube Partner – IdeaHell, Inclusion Partner – LIRNEasia, Social Innovation Partner – UNDP Sri Lanka, Creative Pavilion Partner – Gamer.LK and Hosting Partners – Calcey Technologies, Orange Electric, WSO2 and CodeGen.
