Post ABAF – Local start-ups on regional radar
View(s):Local start-ups are on their way to get funded by regional investors as a result of the Asian Business Angels Forum’ (ABAF) in Colombo recently.
“Roar, Mosurance, Big Buddy, etc are firms that will get funded in the immediate future. Others are on their way to get funded with due diligences being carried out,” Prajeeth Balasubramanium, Lanka Angel Network Founder who was instrumental in bringing the ABAF to Colombo told the Business Times.
Pregbuddy, Orasi, PlushBox, Aniwa.lk, FYI, InsureMe.lk, IgniterBee, Grubz, Virtuarism, BusSeat.lk, Takas.lk, OMAK Technologies, Linear Squared, Simplex Delivery, 99RetailStreet, TripVillas, Zigzag.lk, Saraii Village, Ready Payments, Payable.lk, oDoc, SitRight, Tracified, Zepto, Omentra, Park and Pay, Alakazam, Maturify, nCinga, Bot Factory, Ceylon Coconut Company, BeltRoad, Cognitive Computing, Island Craft, HyperHash, Babylon Labs, FleetManager, mydeal.lk, O2 Store, QuickHelp and Sky Management Systems were showcased.
Funds with over US$ 50 billion assets under their management came together for this angel forum which had 25 start-ups displayed at the ‘Startup Corner’ at ABAF.
This year’s theme at ABAF was on “Cross Border Investing” and it was discussed that cross border investments will compound in the island if the authorities take heart to improve start-ups and bring about a culture of entrepreneurship.
Sri Lanka only produces around 8,000 IT graduates annually, Rajan Anandan Head Google India noted stressing that the country needed to seriously consider attracting regional and global talent.
“The government needs a start-up mission. This has been done in India,” he noted saying that Sri Lanka’s core capability is the extraordinary and strong software engineering.
Mano Sekeram, Chairman of the Lankan Angel Network and founder 99x, a product engineering company, at ABAF noted that technology and innovation are the hidden gems in the country. “It’s the fifth largest export revenue earner in the country. We need to take cognizance of this.” Regional events like ABAF are essential in drawing a wider funnel of expertise and investment, while also shining a spotlight on the attractiveness of Sri Lanka, as an in-demand international destination of choice for startups moving out of the USA and Silicon Valley, he said.
ABAF 2017 “Regional Trends in Start-up Investments” panel discussion. From left - Google Inc Vice President Rajan Anandan, Indian Angel Network President Padmaja Ruparel, Business Angel Network Southeast Asia (BANSEA) Chairman Dr Mark Hon, ABAF Chairman Jordan Green, Hong Kong Business Angel Network (HKBAN) Chairman Dr Samson Tam and Guangzhuo Israel Biotech Fund Chairman Dr. Shuki Gleitman.