GLX Garage links Sri Lankan SMEs with world-class knowledge to catalyze growth

GLX Garage is the bespoke business development programme for export oriented SMEs in Sri Lanka.

“Companies that apply for the programme come to us looking for transformational solutions, which we provide while also helping them build long-term partnerships with new markets from around the world. With the help of both local and international experts, companies taking part in our programme are able to develop the ideal solutions to the obstacles they are facing, build a strong brand presence and embrace scale effectively. Currently, the programme’s local and international experts are summing up work with each company with customised solutions for each of them,” the company said in a media release.

The pilot group of SMEs included Target Agriculture, House of Lonali, Worga Naturals, Serendipol and Ceylon Exports, each receiving personalized expert guidance and coaching targeted at helping them make the next leap for their businesses.

Good Life X Founder, CEO Randhula de Silva said, “This was very much an experiment that brought about vivid and deeply impactful results and learnings for the SMEs and us. We brought in local and global knowledge together and had nine experts working with us on different aspects with these entrepreneurs through an intense development process. The structure and modality of this program was agile and collaborative quite different to what anyone has experienced before, helping us tap into the very core of these businesses and trigger further potential to grow.” 

The nine experts included Arj Wignaraja - Independent Consultant & Advisor; Kasper Dam - Founder of Kandio; Andrea Richert - Strategic Business Consultant; Hugo Lamers – Trade Facilitation & Business Development Consultant, Inge Broers – Owner, Inge Broers Consultancy and Interim Management, Naveen Marasinghe - Chief Operating Officer Antyra Solutions; Frank Thiele - Managing partner, Factor Product design studio Germany; José Koopman - Clothing industry expert; Bert-Jan Ottens - Founder and Senior Adviser of ProFound; Kasper Kerver – Value Chain Development Consultant of ProFound, and Nio Liyanage  - Founder of StartupRight - all who brought the full force of their years of hard-won expertise to the benefit of the GLX Garage entrepreneurs.

This chapter of the Garage programme was facilitated by GIZ SME Sector Development programme through the funding received for COVID 19 response by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The mentors saw many wins through the programme, primarily the unique advantage for the entrepreneurs to tap into nuanced perspectives and approaches brought out by mentors from across diverse industries and geographies - so as to be able to harness the best of local and global know-how, while also maintaining a collective commitment to sustainable thinking.

GLX Garage, in line with the ethos of the Good Life X as a whole, seeks very much to mine and surface the undervalued potential of Sri Lankan SMEs through the disruption of ‘business as usual’. Centering on innovation, future forward and sustainably resilient global practices, the programme sees a pathway for SMEs several years into their operations to both sharpen their efficiencies and also reinvent - thinking its mentors are strongly aligned with. 

As Nio Liyanage expressed, “Agriculture and sustainability are so tightly intertwined with the DNA as well as the potential prosperity of Sri Lanka. The programme validated the immense potential in moving the needle for companies in a ‘traditional’ sector by applying agile and disruptive strategies, and enabling them to execute at speed through cutting edge expertise and resources.”