The Sri Lanka Association of Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM ) as the nation’s catalyst for the IT/BPM industry, is set to inaugurate a new Innovation and Incubation Center in collaboration with the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka (VTA).

Both parties recently signed an MOU to initiate and launch this center, which will be a strong support center and game changer for the young generation of entrepreneurs in the country. 

The MOU was officially signed between the Chairman of SLASSCOM Sandra De Zoysa  and the Chairman of VTA Eranga Basnayaka.     

This Innovation and Incubation center will benefit the young generation of entrepreneurs and will be a microcosm of the innovation ecosystem in the country, supporting startups, corporates, academia, and national ecosystem enablers by providing them with access to mentors, market opportunities and advisory.

Aiming to promote the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka it will work on developing new programmes for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy and provide platforms and collaboration opportunities to various stakeholders in the entrepreneurial space; especially the VTA student community as they will be able to have access to trainings, workshops and mentoring from the SLASSCOM startup ecosystem. 

Board Director of SLASSCOM Mr.Sampath Jayasundara explained “this Innovation and Incubation Center will provide necessary guidance to encourage entrepreneurs, and companies for testing new ideas and technologies, thereby giving them the ability to leap forward towards creating more innovative, market- ready products.  We are very confident that through this center we can help many new and innovative developments happen and we invite entrepreneurs from across the country to come on board with us and make their dreams a reality.”

The Chairman of SLASSCOM, Sandra De Zoysa added that the objective of this innovation and incubation center is simple, which is to inspire and work with aspiring entrepreneurs to shape up business ideas into commercial start-up companies and help create a robust start-up ecosystem in Sri Lanka. 

The VTA Chairman Mr. Eranga Basnayaka stated that this initiative was given priority due to the need of the hour of the country to help the export industry which is led by the IT professionals. He hopes this partnership will facilitate the young entrepreneurs to reach great heights. 

This initiative was organized by the SLASSCOM E&I forum along with the VTA team of professionals. Designed to harness the talents of entrepreneurs, support new product development, and provide go-to-market strategies backed by one-on-one mentoring, this Innovation and Incubation Center is set to enhance the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the country and make way for new breed of innovators.