This project consumed huge amount of work, research
and dedication.
Implementation would not have been possible had it
not been for the support of numerous individuals and
organizations. We would like to extend our sincerest
gratitude to:
• Ruwindhu Peiris
Vice Chairman and Entrepreneurship Lead
• Dharshan Cooray
Executive Director (SLASSCOM)
• Usaith Uwize
Marketing and Brand Specialist (DMS Electronics)
• Anas Akram
Project Executive (SLASSCOM)
• Ali Marikar Bawa
Senior Research Analyst (Stax)
• Randika Rodrigo
Senior Data Analyst (Stax)
Acknowledgements
SLASSCOM has an aspiration of achieving $ 5 Billion in Export
Revenue and creating 200,000 direct and indirect employment
opportunities in the IT/BPM industry by 2022. We believe that the next
phase of growth in our industry will be powered by companies that are
yet to be born or are still at their early stages.
Hence, it is absolutely imperative that we nurture and promote
Entrepreneurship in Sri Lanka. ‘Startup Sri Lanka’ is an initiative by
SLASSCOM to ignite Entrepreneurship and is an integral part of
SLASSCOM’s plan to launch 1,000 start-ups, which is one of our core
initiatives in order to achieve our aspiration for 2022.
In Sri Lanka each year, ¼ million people enter the job market. Jobs
need to be created, the government sector has almost reached its
limit and the private sector has to now provide 8 out of 10 jobs. We
believe fostering Entrepreneurship will not only create wealth but more
importantly, create much needed Jobs.
The Startup Survey was one of the first steps in that journey – this
survey report will help investors, policy makers and entrepreneurs to
debate, deliberate and facilitate building an ecosystem to foster the
‘1,000 Startup Program’ initiative launched by SLASSCOM.
My sincere thanks goes to Startup Sri Lanka and the SLASSCOM
Entrepreneurship Forum, headed by Ruwindhu Peiris, for their efforts
in conducting the survey and publishing this report.
Mano Sekaram
Chairman
SLASSCOM
Chairman’s message
1.0
Country Overview
7
2.0
Business in Sri Lanka
7
3.0
What is a Start-up?
7
4.0
Start-up Survey
8
4.1
The Sample Distribution
8
4.2
Sri Lankan Entrepreneurs - what are they like?
9
4.3
What does a Sri Lankan Start-up look like?
10
4.4
What do they think about the current start-up ecosystem?
11
5.0
Barriers to Growth for Start-ups
12
5.1
Specialization
12
5.2
External Funding
12
5.3
Addressing Market Needs
12
5.4
Restricted Access to Online Payments
12
6.0
Path to growing Sri Lanka’s Start-up Ecosystem
13
6.1
Funding
13
6.2
Business Costs
13
6.3
Branding Sri Lanka as the Next Start-up Hub
13
6.4
Entrepreneurial Mindset
13
6.5
Regional Inclusivity
14
6.6
Strategic Input
14
7.0
What’s in Store for 2016?
14
7.1
Opening up Markets to Start-ups
14
7.2
Improving Skills of Entrepreneurs
14
7.3
Enhance access to Technology, Infrastructure and Funding
15
7.4
Improve and Simplify the Regulatory Environment
15
7.5
Enhance Cultural and Community Engagement
15
7.6
Other Initiatives
15
8.0
Conclusion
15
Table of Contents
6
Sri Lanka’s strategic geographical position at the southern
tip of India places it at the nexus of the world, connecting the
Far East and the Pacific with Europe and the Americas. The
country’s economy has seen a steady growth and reached
USD 74.94 billion in 2014—a growth rate of over 7.5%.
According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the country is
making steady progress towards becoming one of the fastest
growing economies in South Asia; whilst managing inflation
(3.3%) and unemployment (4.3%).
The growth momentum of the services sector continued
with an expansion to 7.1% (of GDP) during the first half of
2015 compared to 4.2% in the first half of the previous year.
Overshadowed by the long-running war and the success of
India’s information technology (IT) industry, Sri Lanka was
previously left unrecognized by most as a center for delivering
IT, business process outsourcing (BPO) and other knowledge
services.
If Sri Lanka looks forward to sustaining and perhaps increasing
its level of economic growth, start-ups could provide an
opening into a highly competitive and largely impenetrable job
market, reducing unemployment by hiring handfuls of young,
qualified individuals across a range of industries. Moreover,
technological advancement and increased competition
between small businesses, require start-ups to develop
their products more quickly, efficiently, and cheaply, while
combating macro-economic issues such as rising rates of
inflation.
Sri Lanka’s current standing as a middle-income emerging
market, along with the prevalent business optimism and recent
policy changes to revitalize foreign investment inflows, is
helping to position it as a regional economic hub.
The business climate within the island is becoming increasingly
favorable to foreign investors and regional players. It is the only
country in the world to have Free Trade Agreements with both
India and Pakistan; the government plans to set up 45 high
Economic Development Zones and 11 Industrial and Technical
Zones to attract investors; and Sri Lanka moved up six spots in
the World Bank’s overall ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking this
year.
But is the country a favorable place for entrepreneurs and
start-ups? SLASSCOM set out to assess the entrepreneurship
landscape in Sri Lanka. Having started by surveying local
entrepreneurs to understand realities on the ground, and
entrepreneurs’ biggest pain points. SLASSCOM already held
a forum towards the end of 2015 highlighting key issues
surrounding the growth of Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem, and
with these reports we hope to disseminate our findings further,
and begin a broader conversation on this topic.
Start-ups are new businesses that are innovative—they
generate new products and ways of doing things. Technology
ideas are now driving innovation as much as business and
product ideas, the definition of a ‘tech company’ has become
increasingly obscure as most businesses today are built around
technology— creating a high growth, high impact business
environment.
A start-ups biggest value is the entrepreneurial mindset that
eventually increases the chances of growing a business
successfully. There is increasing interest from stakeholders of
all kinds: venture capital investors, private wealthy individuals,
event spaces and most importantly governments to get
involved as the economic benefits of hosting successful tech
companies is a big plus for the future welfare of any region.
Countries such as Israel are cultivating a thriving, accessible
and creative start-up environment comparable to that of the
Silicon Valley. With its capital having a population similar to
Colombo— it currently hosts one of the highest concentration
of start-ups with 62 accelerators, 40 co-working spaces,
60 “tech-community” spaces, and almost 70 investors all
within in a country of just 8.4 million people. Its entrepreneurs
have created a near perfect ‘innovation ecosystem’ Whereby
thousands of high-tech companies and start-ups, leading
multinationals, accelerators, and dozens of networking events-
coexist within an environment of raw urbanism and avant garde
culture.
Israel’s start-ups relies heavily upon investors and its
government, which directly directly supports the company at
every stage through 1:1 investments and initiatives such as the
Tel Aviv-Yafo dedicated to elevating the cities global position as
a start-up hub.
1.0 Country Overview
2.0 Business in

Sri Lanka
3.0 What is a Start-up?
7
The survey was launched by the SLASSCOM Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Forum to create a better understanding of
the current start-up ecosystem in Sri Lanka. With quantifiable
data on ground-level realities, we aim to fuel fact-based
discussions on Sri Lankan entrepreneurship. Our overall goal
is for these reports and forums to lead to a strategic, national,
and inclusive action plan to further nurture and grow the start-
up ecosystem.
4.0 Start-up Survey
4.1
Survey Sample
8
Our survey found that 75% of respondents were between the
ages 20 and 35. China indicates a similar age profile with 65%
of their entrepreneurs being from the same age band.
86% of respondents had a Bachelor’s degree or higher -
compared to 82.5% in the US. More than 65% listed Computer
Science or Engineering as their core area of expertise.
4.2 Sri Lankan

Entrepreneurs

what are they like?
They are young
They are educated
9
They are predominantly male
Our research proved that 96% of start-ups in Sri Lanka
consisted of male founders, a trend ubiquitous globally.
Sri Lanka’s current start-up ecosystem appears to
be in the expansion stage with 55% of entrepreneurs
generating early or growing revenues (with 65% of them
generating up to LKR150M in revenue).
58% of respondents utilized personal savings to fund their
business, while 12% of them relied on funding from family and
friends.
28% of funds were raised externally through angel investors
and bank loans etc. Access to credit is consistently rated by
small and medium firms as one of the greatest barriers to doing
business in Sri Lanka.
38% of respondents work in a team of 2-5 people while only
7% of them were listed as working on their own. According to
EY’s Global job creation and entrepreneurship survey for 2015,
47% of global entrepreneurs expect to increase their workforce
within the first year of the business being founded.
4.3 What does a Sri Lankan

Start-up look like?
They are expanding
They are internally funded
They have a growing
workforce
10
Respondents, were asked to rate a multitude of factors
pertaining to the current situation of start-ups:
Affordable Work Space
Access to debt capital from banks
More reliable and cheaper access to internet bandwidth
Sri Lanka brand recognition and global marketing to help
attract foreign clients
Access to experienced mentors to gain advice
Regulatory environment and ease of doing business
Access to technically proficient talent
A convenient means of making and receiving payments
online (Such as PayPal)
Technical skills
Visible successes and role models that encourage new
start-ups
Guidance from experienced entrepreneurs
A collaborative business culture
A pro-entrepreneurship culture and support from family
to pursuit start-up dreams
Risk tolerance and celebration of failures
A supportive regulatory environment and ease of
conducting business
Availability of Capital
4.4 What do they think

about the current

start-up ecosystem?
Ranking of obstacles for
growth of a startup
Ranking of enablers for
Startups to succeed
11
Our research showed most start-ups in Sri Lanka undertake
rapid diversification in order to mitigate the risk of failure.
A group of 27 companies with revenues up to LKR150M was
assessed to understand if the number of sectors they served
bore a relation to the revenue they generated. We found that
companies generating revenue within the range of LKR12M–
150M served ≤2 sectors, while companies that served 3 or
more sectors generated LKR 0–12M in revenue.
The strategy of early diversification has its positives—creating
a larger product mix, increasing the odds of a great idea and
building up an entrepreneur’s skill-set. However, it can be seen
that start-ups that focus on growing one product have the
ability to generate greater revenue, possibly due to the fact
that these players can focus their resources on developing a
higher quality product. Diversification may be better suited for
a later stage—following the execution of a successful primary
product; when companies have more resources to develop
a more sophisticated offering, as well as investigate new
markets.
Start-ups that received funding from external sources (i.e.,
banks, angel investors etc.) were shown to have a higher
growth rate than start-ups that were funded through personal
savings. Adequate access to debt capital however was listed
as a major problem for aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly for
start-ups catering to the food/drink and education sector.
This may explain why the majority of aspiring entrepreneurs
(62%) look to either personal savings, or family and friends for
funding.
Although present day start-ups can usually kick-off with no
involvement from external investors, it is evident that this
may be the difference between simply starting a business
and building a sustainable one. Attracting external investors
requires entrepreneurs to go through a vetting process—
formulating a sound business plan, one that will persuade the
investor to take a worthy risk.
A start-up that does gain access to external funds may grow
more rapidly— connecting a product with a larger audience
takes up considerable resources and planning, therefore a
bigger marketing budget is more likely. Start-ups with big name
backers also attract the visibility and reputational benefits that
a self-funded project only receives from becoming successful.
Furthermore, access to external funding gives businesses the
capital to attract and hire greater talent to build upon a good
idea. Investors may even join in as partners; a motivated,
smart and connected partner may have benefits beyond
just access to capital, active investors will likely be guides in
critical business decisions – which in turn could impact the
growth rate of a business. The dynamism of the tech start-
up environment allows for a limited response time, access to
external funding may be the key to accessing a market before
it peaks.
There is currently a mismatch between what investors see as
potentially high growth sectors, and the sectors entrepreneurs
are catering to. This misalignment between areas of interest
could be the reason for lack of funding.
Sectors such as education, transportation and healthcare have
gained significant interest from investors, but rank low in the
interest of entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs looking to initiate a business are beset by this
asymmetric information— adverse selection problems arise
when investors are unable to distinguish high from low quality
ideas and rather place emphasis on the prevailing success of
a specific industry. This short term-centric credit rationing has
exacerbated the underinvestment of start- ups in Sri Lanka.
Forums encouraging a dialogue between entrepreneurs and
investors will be an integral part of bridging this knowledge
gap. SLASSCOM aims to align the interests of investors and
entrepreneurs through a multitude of platforms; setting up
forums to establish an open mechanism to share ideas and
mentor start-ups, media campaigns to strengthen awareness
around entrepreneurship and, organize events to showcase Sri
Lanka’s start-ups to further attract investors.
The survey showed that a large number of existing and aspiring
entrepreneurs saw the lack of convenient online payment
gateways such as a major operational issue. Sri Lanka is
currently restricted from receiving payments through PayPal,
hindering many business owners from growing their businesses
globally.
Although a variety of other payment gateways are available,
PayPal is said to have more than 173 million active users
worldwide. The restricted access to PayPal has been as a
result of the Central Banks regulations to curb illegal money
laundering. Majority of Sri Lankan businesses however
still have access to smaller international gateways such
as 2Checkout and MoneyBookers; it is imperative that the
government addresses these issues as it could prove to be a
major growth obstacle to Sri Lanka’s start-ups.
5.0 Barriers to

Growth for

Start-ups
5.1
Specialization
5.2
External Funding
5.3 Addressing Market Needs
5.4 Restricted Access to

Online Payments
12
With over 50% of aspiring and existing entrepreneurs opting
to utilize personal savings to start their business, it is evident
that external funding and the lack of support from the banking
system are clear barriers to Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem.
The current slump in global capital markets and Sri Lanka’s risk
averse nature of investors has led them to look for more stable
avenues for investment. A mutual fund catering exclusively to
start-ups can be considered an alternative to the conventional
investment paths for venture capitalist and angel investors—
diversifying risk as well as portfolio, while having potential to
bring in exponential returns.
Encouraging enterprises and individuals to make angel
investment in the IT/BPM industry by extending triple tax
deductions for angel investments of up to Rs.25 million rupees
with matching investment from the state; funds will be required
to be managed via a chosen development bank.
The current restrictions imposed on foreign investors should
be relaxed— private foreign investments are risk free to the
country and whilst providing funding for start-ups, they bring
with it the advantages of advanced technology, management
best practices and assured markets. This will also open up the
possibilities of bringing in websites such as ‘Kickstarter’— one
of the largest crowdfunding platforms for start-ups— that have
a played a pivotal role in uplifting the start-up ecosystems in
countries like Australia.
A government supported technology investment fund is
proposed to support businesses at different stages. Proactively
engaging in private public partnerships has led to the rapid
development of start-up ecosystems in countries such as
Singapore where the government has put into place initiatives
such as the $1B ‘Technopreneurship’ Investment Fund, offering
up to $2M per start-up.
The survey showed that over 50% of existing and aspiring
entrepreneurs find the lack of affordable workspace to be an
issue. Furthermore, the cost of electricity which remains one
of the highest among countries of similar standing is a key
concern if Sri Lanka is to compete as a tech start-up hub.
Fostering incubators and co-working spaces that provide low-
cost space, and subsidized electricity is proposed to tackle
heavy costs of operation during the company’s infancy. Public-
private partnerships to identify suitable areas to be converted
to ‘incubator zones’ offering affordable rental and electricity
rates as per a pre-defined scheme.
Over 50% of aspiring and existing entrepreneurs consider
brand recognition and the ability to attract foreign clients as
an issue; it is evident that majority of existing entrepreneurs
are yet to identify its national marketing strength and branding
as an important factor to differentiating their businesses.
Furthermore, the recognition of start-ups by the government
and initiatives taken to position the country as a start-up hub
has played an instrumental role in developing the start-up eco
system in places such as Hong Kong.
It is recommended that fund be created under the supervision
of the IT/BPM Industry Advisory Committee of the EDB for:
• The continuation of country reports by globally recognized
commentators and analysts (Gartner) to provide a credible
view of the ground realities.
•
Invitation of foreign media and press to promote and
highlight Sri Lanka as a Start-up hub.
• Sri Lankan entrepreneurs attending and taking part in high
level events such as ‘Tech in Asia’, to gain exposure to the
international market.
• Continue focus on e-Government initiatives with a “Buy Sri
Lankan” policy
It is evident that there exists a culture of low risk taking
propensity amongst aspiring entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka.
When evaluating feedback from the survey respondents it can
be seen that majority do not see social and cultural factors as
conducive to developing start-ups. Furthermore, aspiration to
go beyond the local market is not adequate even for start-ups
within the Rs.150M revenue band.
It is recommended that a consolidated effort be made to
influence the mindsets of students, parents and the public to
generate more interest in start-ups. Primary and secondary
education should be structured to foster entrepreneurial
thinking whilst inculcating the learning and application of
essential core skills into curricula.
6.0 Path to growing

Sri Lanka’s

Start- up

Ecosystem
6.1
Funding
6.2 Business Costs
6.3 Branding Sri Lanka as

the next Start-up Hub
6.4 Entrepreneurial Mindset
13
SLASSCOM plans to initiate, incubate and accelerate the
start-up ecosystem in Sri Lanka through focused plan targeted
towards the key areas mentioned below:
• Diaspora-Connect: Identifying Diaspora with high potential
business ideas and matching them with the necessary local
tech talent required to bring the idea to reality.
•
Identifying Start-ups with similar interests to current
government ICT initiatives— to encourage government
participation and interest.
•
Industry-wide alignment through events similar to ‘Sri Lanka
Tourism 2.0’ for potential high growth industries to position
Sri Lanka as a unique destination for start-ups.
• Establish a partnership with IIPL— an accelerator based
in Singapore— to promote the regional expansion of high
potential start-ups.
87% of the IT/BPM workforce are from areas outside Colombo,
this has created an environment of increased urbanization and
living costs. Analysis of the geographic spread of the survey
respondents revealed majority of the investment community
and aspiring/existing entrepreneurs were from Colombo.
It is important to ensure inclusive growth in order to achieve
national prosperity— initiatives such as the entrepreneurship
workshop held in Jaffna to create awareness of start-up
potential of regions outside Colombo. Tax incentives for
existing IT/BPM companies to set up operations outside
Colombo will ensure a balanced development of the ecosystem
and infrastructure throughout the country.
Access to experts that have an objective view of the business
—similar to that of an investor — can be paramount to
streamlining a company’s goals and providing it with a long-
term plan to fruition. Specialist input towards a realistic
valuation may aid the funding process by providing lenders
with a more credible foundation to invest, while consultation on
strategy and in-depth market research will allow the company
to follow a focused path to growth.
Possible government subsidies will help start-ups gain access
to professional help to better understand markets, identify
pathways to organic growth and discover untapped areas of
opportunity. Furthermore, steps should be taken to organize
similar initiatives to SLASSCOMS Xeleration, Sri Lanka’s first
accelerator program with regional access; which provides
start-ups with immersion into the international forum and,
mentoring from entrepreneurs and domain experts whilst
providing exposure to valuable networks to help capitalize on
regional growth opportunities.
7.0 What’s in store

for 2016?
7.1
Opening up markets

to Start-ups
6.5 Regional Inclusivity
6.6 Strategic Input
• Develop partnerships with relevant institutions to encourage
the teaching and cultivation of an entrepreneurial mindset at
an early age.
•
Synergize an appropriate university/ institute to offer a
‘SLASSCOM Tech Entrepreneurship’ to help identify ideas
with high business potential.
• Create a structured industry mentoring mechanism focused
on product engineering to refine offerings of start- ups with
high potential, with the ultimate aim of doubling its value.
7.2
Improving Skills

of Entrepreneurs
14
•
Establish cost-friendly co-working space with an effective
shared services network (legal, secretarial, HR, marketing,
etc).
• Forum with banks to help promote start-up friendly credit
facilities through a dedicated model for infant IT/BPM
companies.
• Support existing accelerator programs to mentor and grow
high potential start-ups.
•
Identify key bottlenecks in the prevailing regulatory
framework and advocate with respective bodies.
• Organize events in association with Kandy IT week to
create awareness of entrepreneurship in areas outside of
Colombo.
• Recognize successful existing tech start-ups through
extensive media coverage.
• Create an open-source forum for entrepreneurs to share
and mentor each other by their area of expertise.
In addition the initiatives above, SLASSCOM hopes to engage
in dialogue with the government and other regulatory bodies to
discuss implementing the following:
• The introduction of free or subsidized work space for high
potential start-ups for up to a year.
• Reduction of Incorporation fees from the currently
stipulated Rs. 20,000 to Rs 5,000 for IT start-ups with a Rs.
500 annual fee, and the removal of the fees imposed on
companies looking to liquidate.
• Undertake targeted capacity building for high value
entrepreneurs in areas such as digital marketing, UI/User
Experience design and life-cycle management. In addition
to this, start-ups will be educated on how to attract
investors and facilitate management buyouts.
• Relaxed regulations on foreign-hires to enable start-ups to
receive expert consultation and guidance.
7.3
Enhance access

to Technology,

Infrastructure and

Funding
7.4
Improve and simplify

the regulatory

environment
7.5
Enhance cultural

and community

engagement
7.6 Other Initiatives
Over the past few years Sri Lanka has made significant
progress in areas related to physical infrastructure development
in order to promote business. However, Sri Lanka appears to
be of weak standing with regards to institutional coordination;
ranked relatively low for the cost of registering a business and
time taken to enforce a contract (although higher than most
other South Asian countries).
The bureaucratic bottlenecks are exacerbated by limited
access to finance, a comparison of the strength of collateral
and bankruptcy laws to protect the rights of borrowers and
lenders ranks lower to other developing countries. Sri Lanka
secured three out of twelve important policy prescriptions
based on the strength of legal rights that facilitate lending for
business start-ups, behind countries such as Vietnam and
Cambodia which scored seven and eleven respectively. With
approximately 80% of businesses being SMEs contributing
to over 50% of the nation’s GDP, it is necessary that these
regulatory hindrances be managed to establish an enabling
environment.
The success of creating a global start-up hub can be
accredited to creating a conducive ecosystem— an enabling
government policy direction, social awareness, entrepreneurial
skill development, business acumen and seed funding.
Sri Lanka’s thriving service sector, technology and finance
skills base and a growing IT/BPM ecosystem makes it a prime
candidate to become a regional start-up hub. A focused
national program driving key issues, aligning the interests of
the public and private sectors, and increasing awareness as
per the recommendations made will drive the country towards
achieving this goal.
8.0 Conclusion
15
Section 1
•
Competitive Benchmarking: Sri Lanka Knowledge
Services. ATKearney. Available from: https://www.
atkearney.com/documents/10192/430128/country_
competitiveness_study-sri_lanka.pdf/7d3033a4-5935-
41d8-bf99-a1462bf7d553 [Accessed January 12, 2016].
•
Location and Connectivity. Board of Investments.
Available from: http://www.investsrilanka.com/why_sri_
lanka/location_and_connectivity [Accessed January 10,
2016].
Section 2
• Annual Report 2014. Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Available from: http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/pics_n_docs/10_
pub/_docs/efr/annual_report/ar2014/english/5_
chapter_01.pdf [Accessed December 20, 2015].
• Doing Business in Sri Lanka. Doing Business.
Available from: http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/
exploreeconomies/sri-lanka/ [Accessed January 11,
2016].
Section 3
• Digital Travel in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv Non-Stop City.
Available from: http://www.telavivstartupcity.
com/#!digital-travel/c1yu8 [Accessed January 18, 2016].
References-SLASSCOM
16
Startup Sri-Lanka is a brand represented by SLASSCOM’s Entrepreneurship Forum. A national
initiative to educate, enable and empower entrepreneurs, startups and investors in building a
startup ecosystem in Sri-Lanka
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http://srilankaitbpm.com/startup-ecosystem-in-sri-lanka/
https://www.facebook.com/StartupSriLanka/?fref=ts
http://www.slasscom.lk/startupsrilanka
http://www.lankanangelnetwork.com/default.php
http://readme.lk/business-setting-startup-sri-lanka/
http://roar.lk/startups/hottest-sri-lankan-startups-2015/
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