Overwhelming response for Venture Engine 2016 submissions
View(s):Sri Lanka’s pioneering entrepreneur empowerment platform Venture Engine has ended its “Call for Entries”, with the programme having received an overwhelming response from an ever expanding pool of potential participants. The organisation said that the quality and variety of submissions received in 2016 was an increase in the level of sophistication in terms of both better conceived business plans as well as a widening scope of sectors being explored. Entries for Venture Engine have encompassed Tech/IT/ICT, Tourism, Ecommerce, Food and Beverages, Logistics, Tourism, Retail, Education, amongst other sectors, in 2016, it said in a media release.
In addition to a highly successful conclusion to its “Call for Entries” phase, Venture Engine also completed its first round of filtering by regional and local angel investors on May 24, wherein a business plan review was held with shortlisted prospects being invited to continue with the programme. The next step for continuing participants is a 2-minute “Elevator Pitch” already scheduled for June 2, where contenders have the opportunity to convince, and maybe even wow, a panel of highly experienced and respected angel investors. The Venture Engine panel comprises Eric Wikramanayake, Chairman of Lankan Angel Network; Prajeeth Balasubramanium,
Founding General Partner and Managing Director of Blue Ocean Ventures; Ruwindhu Peiris, Managing Director of Stax Consulting; Dumindra Ratnayake, former CEO of Etisalat Sri Lanka; Dumith Fernando, Chairman of Asia Securities; Jeevan Gnanam, CEO of Orion City; Anarkali Moonesinghe, CEO of CIMB; Arj Wignaraja, Managing Director of Remote Sensing Metrics Asia; Linda Speldewinde, Founder and Managing Director of Academy Of Design (AOD); and Vinod Hirdaramani, Director of Hirdaramani Group. The media release said that to date,
over 20 companies have achieved remarkable levels of success as a result of Venture Engine, with key local innovators, including Takas.lk, Trekurious, OMAK Technologies, Ridgecrest (tickets.lk), Saraii (eco-village), Extrogene, Nithya, Katha, Wild Trails (eco-adventure), House of Lonali, Glitteray, Threadsol (IntelloCut), Lanka BPO Academy, MyWish (weddings), Push Skateboards, Healthy Living, Zacki Herbal Products, Zigzag.lk, Endemic and 24-7 Techies, having been mentored and funded, to the tune of US$ 6 million, over the last four years.