SEEDSTARS back in Sri Lanka to find the best tech startup
On October 25th 2018, eight of Sri Lanka’s best seed-stage startups will compete to represent the country at the Seedstars Summit and win up to USD one million in equity investments and other prizes.
Seedstars World, the largest startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes is coming to Sri Lanka for the third time, with the pitch event scheduled for 25th 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 USD 500k in funding and built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars team is searching for one additional criterion: the startup’s regional and global scalability. Selected startups will give a three-minute pitch in English, in front of a jury made up of local startup heavyweights, followed by another five-minute Q&A session. Members of the public and press are welcome to join the fun and should register on the Seedstars Colombo website as an attendee. (http://bit.ly/SSWColombo18)
The applications are open until October 18th, and startups are invited to apply at http://bit.ly/SSWColombo18. After a careful screening, the Seedstars team will shortlist eight of the best seed-stage startups in Sri Lanka to pitch on October 25th 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 startup in Colombo will be formed by Mangala Karunaratne (Founder & CEO at Calcey Technologies), Jeevan Gnanam (Co-Founder at Hatch), Sachindra Samararatne (Program Manager at ICTA), Jayomi Lokuliyana (Co-Founder and CEO at zMessenger), and Gabriela Fernandez Scala (Associate for Asia at Seedstars).
In addition to the pitching event, the 8 selected startups will take part in a bootcamp session on the 23rd October, where they will be involved in 1on1 meetings with local mentors. The nine mentors joining the bootcamp this year will be Ahamed Nishadh (Project Manager at ICTA), Mangala Karunaratne (Founder & CEO at Calcey Technologies), Aloka Gunasekara (Program Manager at StartupX Foundry), Yusra Aziz-Eliyas (Founder/Owner at PODI JOBS), Joey Perera (Founder and CEO of Boost Metrics (Pvt) Ltd), Chalinda Abeykoon (CEO at Crowdisland), Chim Himidumage (Founder at Radical Ledger Technologies), Mudith Uswatta (Director – Sales and Product Marketing at Calcey Technologies), and Giovanni Corradini (Associate for Asia at Seedstars).
Damith Hettihewa, CEO, ICTA 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 startup ecosystem and believe that Tech Startups have the true potential to economically transform Sri Lanka. We encourage all Tech Startups to apply and make full use of this great opportunity to shine.”
For more information on Seedstars please visit www.seedstarsworld.com/event/seedstars-colombo-2018. For inquiries regarding the local pitching competition, please write to chrismali@slasscom.lk.
