Startup Ecosystem Archives

February 25, 2022

Sri Lankan startups are getting help for one of the biggest issues that have troubled them:
attracting talent that would love the challenges of a startup. The Information and
Communication Technology Agency (ICTA), is the apex Government body who is mandated
to drive the Digital Transformation of the country partnered with XpressJobs, Sri Lanka’s
market trendsetter for recruitment technology, to support and transform the recruitment
process for the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem.

XpressJobs and ICTA are collaborating via ICTA’s Startup SL, the national online platform
for product-based startups. Startup SL is on a mission to support Sri Lankan tech
entrepreneurs by connecting them to other startups, mentors, investors, and incubators. The
purpose of the partnership is twofold: To help the country’s startups improve their
recruitment strategy and to provide ICTA with data to analyse how recruitment works in the
startup ecosystem.

“XpressJobs is the only job portal in Sri Lanka that provides companies and candidates with
data associated with the recruitment process. We provide transparency to job seekers on the
stage of their job application to help them save time. For companies, we provide tailor-made
technology such as filtering, cv-less applicant tracking, and recruitment by branches. We are
a startup ourselves who have been in recruitment technology for 6 years, so we’re uniquely
qualified to assist and contribute to the community.” Stated by Dr. Oshadie Korale, COO,
XpressJobs.

XpressJobs has implemented the partnership in three phases.
● Phase 1: Providing special recognition for Startup SL members by creating a
separate website page to recruit via XpressJobs and adding the logo of Startup SL
next to jobs posted by them. This gives them an added layer of credibility by
displaying their association with ICTA and Startup SL.

● Phase 2: Facilitating Information flow between startups who recruit via XpressJobs
and ICTA/Startup SL. XpressJobs started asking startups who used their website
whether they were one of the 606 members of Startup SL. Startups who said no were
encouraged to join the program and directed to ICTA if they wished to sign up.
XpressJobs also offers 20% off selected packages to companies who become
Startup SL members as an incentive.
● Phase 3: Sharing non-sensitive and non-confidential statistics from the XpressJobs
analytics dashboard with ICTA. This is to provide ICTA insights on the sectors,
designations, and job types startups are recruiting for. This in turn helps ICTA identify

issues startups are facing with recruitment. XpressJobs has discovered that 40% of
startup job openings are for software developers.

“Partnering with XpressJobs has enabled us to gain insights into the workforce dynamics of
the startup ecosystem which will further help us to take a data-driven approach to ecosystem
development, mentioned by Sachindra Samararatne, Director – Startup Ecosystem
Development, ICTA.
The following solutions could serve as a guide for ICTA to help the recruitment process of
the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem, as startups may not be thinking of these on their own.
● Offer revenue sharing and equity sharing when recruiting. Most startups are
recruiting a cofounder as their first hire. They are also not in a position to offer high
salaries and perks. Therefore, offering equity or revenue can help attract suitable
candidates for CEO and cofounder positions. This could also be extended to other
hires as well.
● Highlight the unique benefits candidates will get from working at a startup in their
recruitment advertisements: opportunities to learn all aspects of business, passionate
colleagues, and increased job responsibilities at the start of your career
● Using recruitment technology as part of their hiring process. As most of the startup
recruitment is done by the CEO or a co-founder, than an HR team, having such
technology at hand helps avoid errors and streamline the process. XpressJobs offers
a discount for Startup SL members so that they can take advantage of recruitment
technology at a lower cost than usual.
As the next stage of this partnership, XpressJobs is looking at ways to help fill the void of
talent in the IT sector. ICTA has a goal of growing the Sri Lankan startup workforce to
10,000 employees strong. This would in turn greatly help the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem
and the economy.

September 22, 2021

The global innovation policy advisory & research firm Startup Genome launched the 2021 edition of the Global Startup Ecosystem report (GSER), in which Sri Lanka’s Startup Ecosystem was featured along with key insights and its way forward after working closely with the ICT Agency of Sri Lanka as a country validating study. Published annually, the report analyses 280 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems and 3 million startups and includes the ranking of the leading 140 ecosystems in the world, breakdowns by continent with regional insights. The GSER is widely known as the most comprehensive and widely read research on global startups.

The Information and Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) through a membership agreement with Startup Genome has been working together since 2016 to explore the untapped potential of the local startup ecosystem and find ways to develop it. Exploring the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem in 2021, the report underscores that the ecosystem is evolving rapidly with measures being taken to nurture local talent, improve business climate and foster international connections that bode well for the ecosystem in the long run.

The report highlights that Sri Lanka is ranked second in the region for ease of starting a startup business, given the recent developments and new laws designated for Colombo Port City as a Special Economic Zone and government’s nod to establish five new technology parks around the island and international collaborations for startup funding. The rapid growth of the ecosystem is backed by the government incentives and timely measures to strengthen the ecosystem.

The report sheds light on the strengths of sub sectors such as Cleantech and Agtech and New Food sectors being highlighted for their density of talent, support resources and startup activities as key drivers of economic growth. The fast-growing stock market, reduced corporate income tax and knowledge driven economy along with ranked as #3 in the Asian region for affordable talent and featured in the top 30 Asian Ecosystems in Bang for Buck are some of the cited reasons a startup should move to Sri Lanka.

Among the key findings of the report, the total value of the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem as at 2021 with a growth of 13% from last year, during the pandemic and creating USD 132 million, total early-stage funding – USD 26 million, Median Series A Round – USD 1.06 million, Median Seed Round – USD 50,000, and Software Engineer salary – USD 6,000.

“Sri Lanka is implementing a holistic and reliant approach to developing our startup ecosystem. Provision of infrastructure through state-of-the-art technology parks, startup-friendly laws and policies, creation of a venture fund, entrepreneur visa, facilitating regional startup hubs are a few of many initiatives that will be implemented in our start-up development strategy.’’ said Jayantha De Silva, Secretary, Ministry of Technology.

“As per the Global Startup Ecosystem report (GSER) findings, the overall growth and performance in Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem has been impacted by the pandemic. However as the facilitator for technology startup development in Sri Lanka, ICTA will continue to work closely with Startup Genome alongside a strong collaboration between both local and global organisations to further empower and accelerate the start up ecosystem in the country. It is imperative that priority focus is provided for local startups where the performance of the startup eco system would be pivotal in realising the vision of a future digital economy in Sri Lanka as well as position Sri Lanka globally for world class technology products” said Oshada Senanayake, Chairman of ICTA.

For international businesses looking to enter the Sri Lankan shores, the country offers a 5 to 10-year tax holiday to private companies while maintaining a 0% corporate tax rate for the tech sector. There is zero capital gains and zero dividend withholding tax for foreigners. In addition, ICTA’s recent partnership with PwC Sri Lanka provisioned an alternative Credit Evaluation Framework specifically designed for tech companies to expand financing opportunities through local financial institutions. The continuous efforts towards a startup friendly government saw the Ministry of Finance in October 2020 introducing a procurement policy requires any application software bids for the government under a value of LKR 2 million to exclusively go to tech startups. In 2021 the Digital Nomad visa program was introduced, enabling foreign individuals to work remotely from Sri Lanka for 1 year.

ICTA is actively working with the Startup Genome, government bodies and partner organizations to achieve its vision of establishing 1,000 tech startups by 2024.

August 16, 2021

The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), in partnership with Startup Genome, the global research and policy advisory firm recently held a webinar titled “Accelerating the Sri Lankan Startup Ecosystem” in an effort to create awareness about the current positioning of the local startup ecosystem and its way forward. The webinar was primarily focused on exploring the key findings of the assessment report compiled by Startup Genome and ICTA with the support of 111 startup founders and startup enablers. The webinar while providing a broader overview of the local startup ecosystem urged the need for a collaborative approach to create a conducive environment for the growth of startups.

The assessment report was presented by Stephan Kuester – the Head of Ecosystem Strategy and Equity Partner at Startup Genome who carries extensive experience as an advisor for both government and private sectors in the creation and acceleration of tech and innovation clusters. He was joined by Akshat Agarwal – Manager Research at Startup Genome who supports ecosystem assessment, insight generation and strategy recommendations for Startup Genome clients. Stephan and Akshat together with Sachindra Samararatne – Director – Startup Ecosystem Development at ICTA enlightened the audience to valuable insights including a comparison of Sri Lanka’ startup ecosystem with global ecosystems, mainly identified gaps in terms of funding and expansion of startups, new opportunities while providing a long-term road map for the development of the ecosystem.

Among the key talking points of the session, Stephan touched upon three important areas of consideration for Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem, which is categorised in the Activation phase according to the metrics used by Startup Genome. Stephan highlighted the need to grow the number of startups, increase startup quality and early stage funding as mandatory requirements for an ecosystem in the Activation phase. He emphasized that the performance of a startup ecosystem is directly linked to the number of startups and through adequate evidence proved that Sri Lanka has the potential to develop home-grown entrepreneurship and the role universities can play in startup ecosystem expansion efforts. He also stressed on the importance of collaboration and connectedness among startup founders, entrepreneurs, enablers and investors to grow the startup ecosystem.

When it comes to the startup quality aspect, the session explored the gaps between high potential technologies, business models, industry expertise, access to global customers and enough tech talent. The report also focused on the funding aspect, providing detailed information about the funding gaps and viable solutions to increase early stage funding. Stephan emphasized the need for a long-term solution to address funding gaps alluding to the fact that Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem funding gaps are larger than its peers’

Stephan reiterated the fact that an assessment of this calibre helps an ecosystem to understand where it stands as at present in order to find the way forward. He stated, “I would like to thank all the startup founders who provided their insights and support to compile this assessment that enables us to work together in accelerating the ecosystem. Even though Sri Lanka’s startup ecosystem is relatively smaller in terms of market size, we see that there is potential for growth in a collaborative approach where we can create start-up friendly policies, build partnerships with global ecosystems, attract global investors, etc. “

Towards the end of the webinar, Stephan presented a set of recommendations to prioritize each year with a road map for the development of the startup ecosystem till 2025.

Commenting on the webinar, assessment report and ICTA’s overall efforts to develop the startup ecosystem, Chief Executive Officer of ICTA, Eng. Mahinda B. Herath said, “We highly appreciate Startup Genome for partnering with us and their efforts to develop the country’s startup ecosystem. On behalf of the ICTA, I am thankful for Stephan Kuester, Akshat Agarwal, all those who supported in compiling the startup ecosystem assessment report and the ICTA team behind this initiative. The insights provided in the report including a clear overview of where we stand as an ecosystem, a roadmap for the ecosystem development with recommendations, etc. will be highly useful for the way forward. We would like to collaborate with all startup founders, enablers, stakeholders and organizations to grow the ecosystem.”

ICTA’s partnership with Startup Genome dates back to 2017 where ICTA collaborated with Startup Genome to launch the first Global startup Ecosystem report and again in 2020 to launch the second edition of the report. All these initiatives align with ICTA’s National Digital Economy Strategy that aims to expand the startup ecosystem to 1000 technology startups by the year 2024.

ICTA invites startup founders, startup enablers and all interested parties to collaborate in building the startup ecosystem in Sri Lanka. For more information, please write to startups@icta.lk .

June 29, 2021

The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), the apex Government body for Technology Startup Development in the country has been the catalyst in driving the startup ecosystem forward during the past decade. In its efforts to create a favorable environment for startups and contribute towards a startup-friendly government, ICTA in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers Sri Lanka (PwC) recently launched a survey study to accelerate tech startup ecosystem ‘Towards a Startup Friendly Government’ – a comprehensive report which focuses on the impediments faced by startups and enablers in Sri Lanka. The study also recommends respective remedial action plan to overcome such impediments.

The survey report was launched at a Press Conference held on the 29^th of June 2021 with the participation of Eng. Mahinda B. Herath – Chief Executive Officer, ICTA, Mr. Anura De Alwis – Chief Digital Economy Officer, ICTA, Mr. Tishan Subasinghe – Member, Presidential Commission on the Simplification of Existing Laws and Regulations, Mr. Aruna Perera, Director – Corporate Finance and Valuation Consulting, PwC Sri Lanka, Mr. Mangala Karunaratne – CEO, Calcey Technologies, Ms. Ruchira Shukla – South Asia Regional Lead for Disruptive Technology Investments, International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group and Mr.Sachindra Samararatne- Director Startup Ecosystem Development, ICTA

The survey provides a broader view of the current tech startup ecosystem, focuses on the impediments which need to be addressed and possible solutions that can be implemented together with the government authorities. The survey also presents a collaborative approach where the government authorities can work closely with the startup ecosystem for the betterment of startups.

The report complied with the guidance and support of a 5-member steering committee comprising of key stakeholders in the startup ecosystem chaired by Mr. Mano Sekaram–CEO, 99X, ICTA Deputy Chairman, Chairman of Steering Committee, including Mr. Mangala Karunaratne – CEO, Calcey Technologies, Mr. Chalinda Abeykoon – CEO, Lankan Angel Network, Mr. Dhanika Perera – CEO, Bhasha Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Mr. Wellington Perera – Director, Cemex Software (Pvt) Ltd and Ms. Jayomi Lokuliyana – CEO, ZMessenger (Pvt) Ltd.

The significance of the study is that while showcasing a deep dive assessment of the impediments faced by the startups, it has also recommended a remedial action plan which derived after analyzing case studies of the other countries in similar nature. The proposed remedial action plan has further been localized to support local startups and make sure that these startups receive the due support from the government entities.

Commenting during the launch of the report, Sachindra Samararatne- Director Startup Ecosystem Development, ICTA said, “Startups are critical for the economic growth of the country given the potential to spur innovation and creativity. The report gives comprehensive set of information on the key areas that need to be focused as the government to accelerate the startups, alongside long-term solutions for the upbringing of the startup ecosystem. Going beyond this initiative, we will continue to work together with government institutions to create an environment conducive for the tech startups in Sri Lanka.”

“We are thankful for ICTA for initiating this timely report that provides a broader spectrum of avenues to accelerate the tech startups in Sri Lanka with the extensive support of the government being received. During the primary research phase, PwC surveyed over 110 startups on operational issues faced, growth inhibitors, funding and capital impediments and market accessibility. In addition, PwC conducted focus group discussions to understand the issues faced by the startups working in key specific sectors. Simultaneously, over 25 ecosystem stakeholders (including private incubators, educational institutes, venture capital funds, legal firms and professional bodies) were interviewed to validate startup impediments. The recommendations were further developed into a remedial action plan whilst considering the international case studies which brings suggestions to accelerate the startup growth in Sri Lanka. We at PwC Sri Lanka are proud to be a part of this initiative which is an indeed requirement in the country at present” Said Aruna Perera, Director – Corporate Finance & Valuation Consulting, PwC Sri Lanka

The report brings to light 29 impediments from 12 categories faced by startups including issues relating to Foreign Exchange, Barriers to Foreign Investors, Intellectual Property, Taxation, Immigration, R&D, Government Support for Cross Boarder Activities, Data Privacy & Cyber Security, Digital Payments, Debt Financing, Telecommunication Regulations, Digitalization of Administrative Tasks and suggests 44 actions to resolve these impediments by working together with government authorities, who are in charge of respective sectors.

As the catalyst in driving the ICT sector including the tech startup ecosystem forward, ICTA pioneers in all ICT related projects implemented by the government and is in the process of supporting the growth of the tech industry. With its vision to make Sri Lanka a digitally inclusive country, ICTA strives to empower tech startups via several initiatives such as StartupSL, Alternative Credit Evaluation Framework for Tech Companies, Spiralation, etc. ICTA expects to support the startup ecosystem development in the long run via creating a conducive environment for the tech startups to thrive with the aim to see new globally scalable tech businesses emerging in Sri Lanka.

ICTA and XpressJobs partner to transform recruitment for the Sri Lankan startup ecosystem

Sri Lanka’s Startup Ecosystem through the lenses of Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2021

Fostering the local startup ecosystem through effective collaborations and support

ICTA launches – A survey study to Accelerate Tech Startup Ecosystem ‘Towards a Startup Friendly Government’