Creating a new wave of entrepreneurs

Q: What brought about the idea for Good Life X (GLX)?

A: The idea for GLX originated in 2018, harnessing the collective experience of the founder team during their time in the SME sector and building startup ecosystems around Asia.

The GLX Accelerator cohort of 2020.

Certain gaps were identified between emerging and innovative tech entrepreneurs, and natural value chains that were waiting to be disrupted. In the founders’ view, filling this gap was a necessary endeavour.

Good Life X commenced as a programme within the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) SME development initiative in Sri Lanka. This year, we proudly spread our wings as an independent entity and continued our progression, with established offices here and in Singapore.

In a time when conscious consumption and sustainable businesses are moving the needle globally, we must ask ourselves whether we as the new generation can remain idle while being overwhelmed by the memories of the past; or roll up our sleeves and change the game where it’s most needed.

Coming from a region where the wealth of resources in agriculture, health and travel are inherently prominent, we aim to introduce a paradigm shift by disrupting and driving innovation in natural value chains with a modern spin, injecting the startup mentality and offering different approaches to solve problems.


Q: How does GLX foster entrepreneurship through its operations?
A: Fostering entrepreneurship has been GLX’s intention since its inception. This journey commenced in 2019 with the first accelerator programme that focussed on startups. Since then, we have evolved to the point of working with both startups and SMEs

Over 16 weeks, the accelerator programme provides the necessary handholding to drive participating startups towards achieving key objectives while embracing growth. Here, GLX works with young entrepreneurs brimming with fresh new ideas – individuals who have been flying under the radar but are in need of nurturing to blossom.

The second iteration of the accelerator kicked off with 10 startups last year and successfully completed amid the pandemic.

The GLX 2019 Accelerator cohort with its mentors.

The GLX Garage is our latest experiment and as the name suggests, it’s a space for SMEs that have been in the game for a while. Launched to work with five companies last year, the programme nurtures organisations ranging from family owned businesses to entities rooted in traditional sectors, which contributes substantially to the economy through sustainable approaches.

Over the course of the programme, companies are offered expertise and the focus needed to discover diverse market opportunities.

Additionally, it offers new perspectives on how they should adapt to evolving consumer needs, and reinvent and digitalise their businesses to extend their longevity in prevailing global market conditions.

Q: In your opinion, how have the company’s programmes contributed to the economy?

A: The experience obtained throughout its many ventures in experimenting with startups and working with SMEs, enabled GLX to expand its scope and scale of hitting the refresh button in sectors that need reinvention in Sri Lanka.

Committed to this cause are multiple partners from Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, who open doors and share knowledge.

We have a keen interest in building the resilience of the tourism industry. To this end, we partnered with Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance, GIZ and the Noah Foundation, to execute grant schemes and coaching programmes to help the industry create short-term pivots to remain operational and build sustainable approaches in their offerings.

By the end of last year, we directly supported 45 companies in changing how they work, and embrace growth and resilience through our Accelerator, Garage and Tourism Resilience programmes, which I feel is a commendable achievement.

Q: Could you shed light on GLX’s partnerships?

A: The diverse pool of partners – which includes GIZ, ESCP Business School, Noah Foundation, Good Impact Foundation, APX, Katapult Accelerator, EDEKA’s Food Tech Campus, CoralColab, Hatch Works, Yarl IT Hub, Sri Lanka Tourism Alliance, and the global and Sri Lankan arms of Good Market – work in tandem to form an adhesive portfolio that makes our endeavours impactful.

Q: How has the dual role of CEO of Hatch and Chief Disruptor of GIZ affected your personal growth?

A: It is a beautiful experience – especially being the maiden CEO of Hatch, which is also a pioneering initiative for Sri Lanka.

This was an experiment to test how the future of work would play out in deep collaborations between different entities working towards the same objective, achieving the epitome of agility and growth mentality as a result.

I believe that by saying ‘yes’ to what has not been done before and leaping from the edge to take flight with it is what makes us truly grow. This has given me the opportunity to work with sensational visionaries who see the world differently and is a deeply inspirational to live by this on a daily basis.

– Compiled by Randheer Mallawaarachchi
INTERVIEWEE DETAILS
Randhula de Silva
CEO and Founder
COMPANY DETAILS
Telephone : 0774 915953
Email : info@goodlifex.com
Website :www.goodlifex.com