Made-to-measure premium online shirt firm wins Venture Engine 2015
Colombo’s business elite gathered this week for the finale of the fourth edition of the Venture Engine entrepreneur development competition, where made-to-measure online premium shirt firm Stripes and Checks took the first place trophy. This company was adjudged the winner from a pool of 11 finalists that emerged from the Venture Engine programme and its workshops encompassing the areas of setting up companies, financing, marketing, legal, etc.
According to organisers, the 2015 contest attracted over 150 submissions, a record number based on previous years. Also, these entries spanned the areas of ayurveda and healthcare, biotech, chemical and fertilisers, design, education, food technology and processing, gaming, IT and e-commerce, logistics, social media, and tourism and hospitality.
Additionally, aside from the winning Stripes and Checks Inc., the 10 other finalists showcased at the June 23 Venture Engine 2015 finale included: online travel social media network Do What We Did (DWWD), food review app Yamu, digital audio book provider Infocom, non-cash payment retail concept Vending Machines, online educators GTC Campus and Web Based Education, organic fertiliser Gro Green, ready-to-eat instant food McChoice, Cey Digital’s Law Envoy online legal platform, and mobile app VDriver.
Speaking at the event, Blue Ocean Ventures Chairman Rajan Anandan revealed that, by the end of 2015, one of the companies that had come through a previous year’s Venture Engine programme would be seeking Series A funding at a valuation of Rs. 1 billion (approximately US$ 7.5 million), while another was planning on holding a local IPO, within the next 18 months. Mr.
Anandan is the Sri Lankan-born Vice President and Managing Director of Google South East Asia and India, and one of India’s top angel investors, while his company, Blue Ocean Ventures, has been the organiser of Venture Engine since the competition’s inception.
Also addressing the audience, Indian Angel Network President Padmaja Ruparel indicated that the Venture Engine community was excited because it had also experienced its first “exit”, where investors cash out from a company following it reaching profitability. Referring to the Lanka BPO Academy, the winner of the first-ever Venture Engine, she noted that a few investors had exited, having made 1.5 times their initial investment, after 30 months, while some investors were continuing on for the long term.