‘Entrepreneurship Studio’ gains momentum with 20 startups shortlisted and start of intensive mentoring programme

SLT-MOBITEL, the National ICT Solutions Provider, focused on purpose-driven innovation has announced the shortlisting of 20 startups for its pioneering ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’ 2021-2022 cohort and the commencement of an intensive mentoring and coaching programme targeting the participants.

The ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’ programme was launched with the aim of strengthening the country’s digital ecosystem by nurturing and supporting tech startups involved in driving innovative and disruptive technologies. The competition is designed to challenge the most promising early-stage startups to develop, test and market groundbreaking new products and solutions revolutionizing the tech industry. At the culmination of ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’, selected winners will receive up to LKR One million in funding to scale up their businesses.

The ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’ programme is spearheaded by ‘The Embryo’, SLT Group’s new pioneering Research and Development initiative which seeks to drive a multi-channel innovation pipeline to build cutting-edge digital solutions.

The selected entrepreneurs will undergo 14 weeks of mentoring comprising of a series of preparatory activities including training sessions, mentorship, coaching, workshops and boot-camps from carefully selected experts who will provide support and valuable advice to the entrepreneurs. These sessions include strategies on Vision Setting, Customer & Product Development and Go to Market, Legal & IP, Infrastructure & Technology, and Revenue Development.

The programme which was launched in May has now progressed in shortlisting 20 startups. Supporting these startups in their long-term success, the ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’ programme is a comprehensive mentoring programme for the shortlisted candidates.

The program offers participants mentoring through experience sharing, technical know-how and coaching by a high-powered panel of SLT-MOBITEL experts. Inaugurating the mentoring and coaching sessions was held recently through an orientation event held with the participation of Mr. Rohan Fernando (Group Chairman SLT), Mr. Lalith Seneviratne (Group CEO SLT), Mr. Kiththi Perera (CEO SLT), Mr. Priyantha Fernandez (COO SLT), Mr. Chandika Vitharana  (CEO Mobitel) and several other senior management of SLT-MOBITEL.

The finalists of the SLT-MOBITEL ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’ 2021-2022 cohort are set to participate in a Demo Day upon completion of the mentoring and coaching sessions.  The aim of this event will be to provide the entrepreneurs a solid springboard to showcase their perfected business models to a curated panel of tech industry leaders, mentors, future investors, and potential acquirers. After Demo Day, where the finalists will pitch their plans, the selected winners will receive up to LKR One million in funding to scale up their businesses.

With the launch of ‘Entrepreneurship Studio’, SLT-MOBITEL is supporting the national vision of a digitally transformed society and a strategy to become a pivotal global hub for innovation and technology. The programme is expected to become a highly anticipated event in the industry calendar for founders and entrepreneurs as well as investors seeking to discover the next generation of innovative tech firms.