LAN celebrates record year of supporting entrepreneurs through investments etc
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Ms. Chandi Dharmaratne
Lankan Angel Network (LAN) has celebrated a record 2021 in which it helped local entrepreneurs grow to reach larger markets at home and internationally, through a combination of investments and mentorship. In 2021 alone, LAN evaluated over 250 start-ups, with over half going on to receive detailed feedback and mentoring to help them grow and become investor ready, the organisation said in a media release.
Over this year, the network’s Angel Fund went on to make investments totalling Rs. 50 million in both Niftron, a blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, and Magicbit, an easy-to-use STEM education platform. Both Niftron and Magicbit also emerged as national winners in the LAN-hosted Sri Lankan leg of the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) and represented the country at the EWC global finals.
In addition to these investments, LAN is working with, and conducting due diligence on, two more start-ups in the fintech and circular economy spaces, with investments expected in early 2022. The network is also mentoring two other start-ups in the AI and logistic spaces, helping them to become investor ready.
“This past year has been one of both challenges and opportunities for Sri Lanka, and I am happy to note that LAN has led the charge towards a stronger entrepreneurial sector by going beyond investing, to provide mentorship and support to local start-ups,” said Chandi Dharmaratne, Chairperson, LAN. “As we continue our efforts, I must thank my team at LAN, our investors and partners for their contribution.”
As part of its mission to empower entrepreneurs and build a strong and vibrant start-up environment, in 2021 LAN said, in the release, that it hosted over 25 events and workshops that focused on sharing best practices, developing the ecosystem, and building the pipeline for investors. Topics covered included sessions on overcoming the pandemic, customer retention, as well as sessions for early-stage start-ups to learn more about Angel Investors and how to gain access to them.
Similarly, the network’s Her Brand programme, launched in early 2021, brought together female-led start-ups with emerging videographers to collaborate and co-create, with the aim of leveraging each other’s strengths to catalyse growth.
The Angel Fund continues to identify and evaluate opportunities for investment across the island, including in traditionally underserved regions. With plans to ultimately invest in six to eight high potential start-ups in total, gearing them up to scale domestically, and even internationally, the Angel Fund is dedicated to investing in, and mentoring and supporting, early-stage start-ups across multiple sectors; from making investments at the early stages, to even helping start-ups identify sources for future funding. LAN aims to fully deploy its Rs. 100 million Angel Fund by 2022.
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