SLASSCOM and the Lankan Angel Network have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate in assisting start-ups and entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka’s tech sector to secure funding.

As a result of this partnership, Sri Lanka will directly benefit in terms of an increase in the levels of demand and supply for knowledge workers, growth in global exports and enhanced economic dynamism, greater information technology adoption and a higher incidence of technology-focused start-ups.

This MoU between SLASSCOM and LAN builds on the strengths of both entities. LAN will provide investment opportunities for potential tech entrepreneurs, who will be backed by seed funding, while also supporting start-ups in their journeys with specialist coaching and mentor services.

LAN will also provide support in the form of workshops for tech companies registered with SLASSCOM, empowering them with the skills and knowledge required to successfully pitch to Venture Capital (VC) funds and High Net-worth Investors (HNIs).

In return, SLASSCOM will reciprocate by bringing in its existing entrepreneur development programmes into this initiative. These include the WTech Entrepreneur Development Bootcamp Programme, Regional Entrepreneur Development Programme and the Tech Entrepreneur Market Access Program.

SLASSCOM Former Chairperson Sandra De Zoysa commented, “start-ups play a significant role in economic growth as they are the nucleus for innovation; creating more opportunities for employment, which in turn leads to a greater contribution towards economic success. Sri Lanka, as an emerging entrepreneurial country, has enabled many local start-ups and attracted a significant number of regional start-ups in the recent past that are seeking to scale.”

“Several of them are already great success stories. In fact, many of the of the highly successful IT/ BPM companies were start-ups within our eco-system that accelerated to maturity relatively fast to be the world class products and service providers that we see today. SLASSCOM’s vision for 2025 is the launching 1,000 start-ups, creation of 200,000 jobs and generating $5 billion in export revenue.”

LAN Chairperson Chandi Dharmaratne noted, “it is essential that current and future technology-based start-ups are encouraged to scale, so they can become truly competitive in global markets.” She further signalled that LAN had already evaluated several high-potential start-ups emerging from SLASSCOM’s pipeline. Having exhibited the requisite criteria to move forward, these start-ups were being given the opportunity to pitch to LAN’s Angel Fund Investment Committee.