Venture Frontier Lanka

May 2nd - May 8th 2018

Build local. Reach global.
About OviBees Ventures
We are OviBees Ventures, a forward looking team and venture
accelerator specialized in globalizing the most promising early stage
tech startups and in designing and implementing integrated
entrepreneurship platforms.

About Venture Frontier Lanka

Venture Frontier Lanka is a 4-year nationwide entrepreneurship
initiative launched by OviBees Ventures, aimed at identifying and
nurturing Sri Lanka’s most promising for-profit entrepreneurs.

Venture Frontier Lanka is the country’s first entrepreneurship

platform focused on the development of the complete startup
lifecycle across 5 key industries:

Venture Frontier Lanka utilizes a Public-Private-Donor partnership

structure by bringing together the Government of Sri Lanka, leading
private sector companies such as LOLC , Hemas and international
donors. 

Join the community:

Venture Frontier Lanka OviBees Ventures

venturefrontierlanka info@ovibees.com
Meet the speakers

Hon. (Dr.) Harsha De Silva

State Minister of National
Policies and Economic Affairs

"Entrepreneurs who set up SMEs are engines of growth.

Start-ups are disruptive, innovative, and dynamic, while jobs
that will be created here are of high value, high skill, and high
pay. Venture Frontier Lanka will fulfill an immense need for
mentoring and network building between startups, larger
companies, supply chains and markets."
Venture Frontier Lanka
Startup Boot Camps
Venture Frontier Lanka hosted 2-day events in Colombo and Jaffna with
the purpose of providing in depth venture development training,
practical mentorship, pitching advice to most promising early stage
entrepreneurs.

The top ventures from each startup boot camp then participated

in three months of mentorship support from leading local and global
entrepreneurs. They will qualify for investment consideration from the
Venture Frontier Seed Fund.
Venture Frontier Lanka Boot Camps, 
Colombo & Jaffna
Shortly after the Official Launch Event of the Venture Frontier Lanka
initiative in Colombo, we had announced  applications for our first edition
of Startup Boot Camps. It was a two-day event that had taken place in
both Colombo (2-3 May) and Jaffna (5-6 May) and provided extensive
business development training, mentorship and pitching support to the
best early-stage Sri Lankan startups.

We convened regional and international experts in entrepreneurship to

go throughout Sri Lanka with the goal to inspire entrepreneurs to think
differently about the ventures they will start.

Among the speakers providing mentorship at the boot camp included:  

- Jim Bagnola, President of The Leadership Group;
- Gibs Song, Venture Partner, Big Basin Capital;
- Harsha Subasinghe, President and CEO, Codegen;
- Rajat Arora, Policy Programs Manager, Facebook India & South Asia;
- Jon Cayzer, Speechwriter and policy adviser/writer;
- Senura Abeywardena, Attorney;
- Revan Weerasinghe, Attorney;
- Tilak Dissanayake, Founder, Ants Global;
- Chris Doering, Project Coordinator StartUp Ecosystem Sri Lanka;
- Ravi Bamunusinghe, Owner, Research Consultancy Bureau;
- Nissanka Weerasekera, Managing Director, Abraaj Capital;
Venture Frontier Lanka Boot Camps, 
Colombo & Jaffna

Click here to see more  photos from Startup Boot Camp Colombo

The selection of the participating startups was based on the

application information submitted and fitting the eligibility criteria
published in advance. After receiving over 100 applications, we
announced the participation of 37 startups in Colombo and 19 in
Jaffna. The entrepreneurs selected had the chance to pitch their
business idea in front of a panel of judges and only the top 6
startups in Colombo, top 3 in Jaffna, made it to the final round of
pitching.

Click here to see more photos from Startup Boot Camp Jaffna 

Top 3 startups in Colombo
1st place– Landlord +
An affordable, 360-degree property
management platform, which is
millennial-friendly. They sign
up homeowners to help maintain
houses and keep them in order. Long
term, the platform will also be used
to collect rent and reach out to
more tenants when the current
ones move out.

2nd place– Owita Organics

Owita Organics wants all of Sri
Lanka to eat healthily. They
aim to do this by providing
fresh, healthy, locally grown
produce. Owita Organics would
also provide home delivery of
fruits and vegetables. These
can be ordered online via the
company’s website.

3rd place– Park and Pay

Park and Pay is a platform that
combines parking and paying and
wrapping it up in one
convenient app. The mobile app
allows you to find parking slots, and
pay for them. It can be implemented
in private car parks, rent slots, and
public parking slots.
Top 3 startups in Jaffna

1st place – !dea  Factory is creating a

patented plastic bottle recycling
machine that will automatically
reimburse bottle recyclers with mobile
phone credits.

2nd place – Cookoo, a company that will soon showcase gourmet

in-home dining experiences in Jaffna that travelers and local
foodies alike can book and pay for online.

2nd place - Skyline, a local print

shop that is going digital and
serving the Jaffna and global
market by taking advantage of
technology to allow customers
to create custom orders online.
Venture Frontier Lanka
CEO Breakfast Forum May 8th
Transforming Sri Lanka
with private sector leadership and entrepreneurship
It was an exclusive breakfast series, which brought together over 30
leaders of the top companies in Sri Lanka from different industries for
thought-provoking content and networking opportunities. It took place
at Jetwing Colombo Seven and the agenda included a keynote speech
delivered by Jim Bagnola, President - The Leadership Group International
and a Panel Discussion with Jim, Rajendra Theagarajah, CEO - Cargills
Bank Limited, Heminda Jayaweera, Nisthar Cassim, Chief Editor - Daily
FT, Co-founder - Venture Frontier Lanka and Ovidiu Bujorean, Co-founder
Venture Frontier Lanka.
Venture Frontier Lanka
National Broadcast Series May 8th
Topic: Ideation (Idea + Creation)
The national broadcast was an interactive online conference that
brought great entrepreneurial minds together to inspire the next
generation of innovators discussing startup ideation that had viewing
sites in universities and hubs around the country with over 1 600
views. We invited both our present audience and people watching the
live streams to ask our panelists questions, to get answers in real
time.
- Jim Bagnola, President - The Leadership Group International, 
- Harsha Subasinghe, President and CEO, Codegen 
- Ovidiu Bujorean, Co-founder Venture Frontier Lanka 
National Broadcast Recordings
click here:
Venture Frontier Lanka
Upcoming Events
Venture Frontier Lanka National Startup Challenge

Applications open June 1 – August 15

The Startup Challenge is a nationwide startup competition to identify

Sri Lanka's top 30 early stage entrepreneurs and to funnel the top
ventures to international connections to expand their reach. 

At the October Finale event in Colombo, the entrepreneurs will

participate in an intense three-day venture development training,
mentorship, and networking program.

The highly publicized National DemoDay will feature the top

entrepreneurs pitching in front of top national and global investors
and serial entrepreneurs for seed investments of up to 30k and 1
year of mentorship.

Sign up for notifications:
ovibees.com/venturefrontierlanka/contact/
Venture Frontier Lanka
Upcoming Events
Venture Frontier Lanka Accelerator

The accelerator will be a two-month, intensive program to be held in

Colombo late in 2018. Fellows will experiment together to implement
top startup strategies with the guidance of experienced
entrepreneurial mentors.

The program will include investor panels and meetings, a panel of

global entrepreneurs in residence, opportunities to network and have
consultations with legal and financial professionals, exclusive
opportunities to seek feedback from Venture Frontier Lanka advisory
board members.

The community members will focus on marketing, growth and scaling,

and reaching regional and global markets. How to get involved? All
applicants for the national challenge can select to also be considered
for the national accelerator.

Sign up for notification:
ovibees.com/venturefrontierlanka/contact/
Media Coverage

http://www.ft.lk/special-report/Jim-Bagnola-shares-mantra-for-
transformative-leadership/22-655542

http://www.ft.lk/special-report/Private-sector-take-on--Transforming-
Sri-Lanka-with-entrepreneurship-/22-655541
Media Coverage

http://www.ft.lk/special-report/Startup-boot-camps-inspire-young-
entrepreneurs-in-Jaffna/22-655540 
Media Coverage
Media Coverage
Media Coverage
Media Coverage
Venture Frontier Lanka
Advisory Board Members

Dumindra Dr. Hans Harsha

Rathnayake Wijayasuriya Subasinghe
Chairman of the Board Regional CEO of President and
of Investement Axiata Group CEO of Codegen

Ishara Nanayakkara Jeff Hoffman Shari Loessberg

Deputy Chairman of Co-Founder & Senior Lecturer at
LOLC Finance Former CEO of Priceline MIT Sloan School of
Business

Chuck Eesley Jim Bagnola Robert van Zwieten

Assoc Prof for President of The Former President and
Entrepreneurship Leadership Group CEO of EMPEA
at Stanford University
Venture Frontier Lanka
Team Members

Ovidiu Bujorean Heminda Senura

Co-founder of Jayaweera Abeywardena
Venture Frontier Lanka Co-Founder of Consultant
ovidiu@ovibees.com Venture
Frontier Lanka

Amanda Gant Carmen Cucul Madalin Betivoiu

Program Manager Advisor Project Manager
amanda@ovibees.com carmen@ovibees.com madalin@ovibees.com

Camelia Tiu Indeewari Lakmini

Social Media & Content Chandrasekara Senanayake
Development Volunteer Volunteer
camelia@ovibees.com
Local Group of Partners

Main partners:

Event partners:

Outreach partners:
Build local. Reach global.

Join our efforts to globalize Sri Lanka’s most

promising seed and early stage entrepreneurs
 and create prosperity for all.