90 % engineering work for Silicon Valley start-up ‘Sysco Labs’
More than 90 per cent of the engineering work will be handled in Sri Lanka for ‘Sysco Labs’ (former Cake Labs), US-based Silicon Valley start-up company, according to Sysco Labs – Sri Lanka Managing Director, Shanil Fernando, speaking to the Business Times on the sidelines of an event organised by the company last week.
Sysco, the world’s largest food distributor mainly to the US and Europe, acquired Cake Labs, a restaurant technology start-up company that evolved in the Silicon Valley and thus the name changed to ‘Sysco Labs’. Sysco has been investing in the company since its inception in 2012 and the partnership has led Sri Lanka to manage more than 90 per cent of the engineering work, added Mr. Fernando.
The company announced its name change as a new evolution from Cake Labs to Sysco Labs at an event at the Movenpick Hotel in Colombo. The new office was also opened on the same day in Kollupitiya.
Mr. Fernando also elaborated that the start-up initially evolved as ‘Leapset’, a business consulting company in 2012 in Silicon Valley funded by Sysco. Later the name changed to ‘Cake Labs’, a restaurant technology company and then became ‘Sysco Labs’.
Sysco’s investment in Cake Labs will drive the future of the food services industry where the Silicon Valley heritage will give Sysco access to the best innovation in the valley, said Mr. Fernando at the event.
“We saw the massive opportunity in the restaurant industry. In last five years the company has made tremendous grounds in building very disruptive technology platforms in the restaurant segment. Last year our technology platform processed billions in revenue and has been growing 150 per cent year-on-year for the last three years. We have served over 100 million consumers through our products and those products have been flowing 100 per cent year-on-year,” he added.
He also stated that Sysco Labs is the evolution of focus on innovation that began with Cake Labs. The company will broaden the scope of work completed by its employees and open new opportunities to innovate and build integrated products and services.
Sysco is the largest food distributor in the US and Europe that has offices in UK, France, Ireland, Sweden and Spain. It employs over 65,000 people with an annual revenue exceeding US$55 billion. Cake Labs’ restaurant industry itself was valued around $600 million. “The partnership will address this vacuum in this industry, together we can revolutionize the global food services industry,” noted Mr. Fernando.
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Atul Keshap who was the Chief Guest at the event stated that Sysco Labs is a new innovation, freedom of thought and design and the imagination that American companies bring in everything they do.
“Sysco supplies food to one in every two restaurants in the US, nearly half a million restaurants. Bringing technology to that challenge makes restaurants to be more efficient, people will have plenty and fresh food choices and restaurant owners will have the best technology at their fingertips. Sri Lanka having some of the best tech professionals in the world, working with American IT professional will be a great advantage,” added Mr. Keshap.