Venture Engine 2013 kicks-off, entries close on June 3
View(s):The second edition of Sri Lankan start-up funding competition Venture Engine was kicked off last week in Colombo, during which the entry cut-off for submissions of business plans closes on June 3, 2013, while the competition’s finale is slated for June 26.
Speaking to the Business Times, a founding member of the Venture Engine team, Blue Ocean Ventures Managing Director Prajeeth Balasubramanium noted that he was anticipating that about 100 business plans would be submitted this year. This is compared to last year’s competition, which initially resulted in about 80 business plans submissions, and ultimately led to nine companies being funded with a total of Rs. 100 million invested.
Further, Mr. Balasubramanium also signalled that in comparison to the environment in which Venture Engine first launched, when there was only a limited pool of venture funding options available to entrepreneurs, there had already been a number of events for this group such as the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Spark iT’ contest, which attracted about 60 businesses. He also noted that there was another upcoming event, ‘Hicka Hack’, to be held in May 2013, which could also lead to a number of entrepreneurs submitting to Venture Engine.
At the same time, Mr. Balasubramanium also commented on another initiative spawned by last year’s Venture Engine, the Lankan Angel Network (LAN), noting that it was doing well following its official launch in January 2013. He indicated that a group of about 25 LAN members, out of a total pool comprising 50 local/international venture capitalists, were meeting every month to evaluate two or three business plans for possible investment.
Additionally, also speaking at the Venture Engine 2013 kick-off, Blue Ocean Ventures Chairman Rajan Anandan, who is also the Managing Director of Google India, further revealed that a company that had participated in last year’s Venture Engine, remote tech support firm 24/7 Techies, founded by local web developer Eureka Technology Partners Founder Dilendra Wimalasekere, had already reached a Rs. 500 million valuation, with a Rs. 100 million revenue stream.
Adding to this, Mr. Balasubramanium also opined that this was partly due to local competitions such as Venture Engine that this company accessed capital from international venture capital funds such as Dave McClure’s 500 Startups. According to media reports, the latter had invested US$ 600,000 in 24/7 Techies, which mainly operates in the US market with around 70 per cent of its 8,500 plus customers in that country.
Meanwhile, commenting on the recent acquisition of a majority stake in Sunshine Travels and Tours by Blue Ocean Ventures, Mr. Balasubramanium revealed that the name of the new Chief Executive for the firm would be announced on May 15, and that this company’s new head, a veteran in the local sector, would also hold an equal stake to Blue Ocean Ventures’ own. In addition, he also stated that there were plans to eventually take this company public at some later date. (JH)
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus