Fresh ideas boom at HSBC- British Council Youth Enterprise Awards
View(s):HSBC Youth Enterprise Awards jointly organised by the British Council and HSBC is a business plan contest aimed at recognising and supporting young entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka to start-up their businesses.
The winners Buddhika Jayawardena and Jayamini Rodrigo
The competition, which is open to Sri Lankan postgraduates, undergraduates and students aged 18 to 35 years currently pursuing their studies at universities, private higher education institutions, technical and vocational institutions and professional training bodies in Sri Lanka, encourages students to submit their business ideas as individuals or in teams under any of the given industry categories: agriculture, education and health.
A total of 53 business ideas were selected from the pre-event workshops held in Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna and the young entrepreneurs behind these proposals were invited to pitch their creative ideas to a panel comprising Country Director British Council Sri Lanka, Keith Davies, CEO Thambili Island Travels Akila Ramanayaka, Head of Business Development, Colombo Leadership Academy, Niroshi Siriwansa , Founder and Director, The Mentor International, Country Manager, Youth Business Sri Lanka V. Kumaraguru , Country Director, Global Payments and Cash Management HSBC Dineth Nanayakkara, Founder Vantage Consultancy, Sunesh Rodrigo and Lecturer in Marketing Chandrani Samaradivakara.
The participants also received essential skill training in presentation and meeting skills delivered by Professional Skills Trainer British Council Sri Lanka, Clea Mcdonald.
The business pitches took place at MAS Innovation Centre,Colombo 02. After the 53 pitches, the judges announced the best 19 business ideas and these individuals and teams were requested to spend the night at MAS Innovation Centre, ‘hacking’ their ideas and preparing their final pitch to the judges, the next day. The dynamic young entrepreneurs worked through the night, fine tuning and practising for the next day’s tough judging panel.
Twenty-four hours later, the teams presented their ideas once again. Buddhika Jayawardena and Jayamini Rodrigo from team SIPLO representing the University of Moratuwa emerged winners, with their idea for an online tutoring platform that bridges the gap between student and tutor.
The first runner up award went to team Biz Mora for their innovative 100% natural substitute to artificial food products currently available in the market.
Team Handheld Field sorting cart was adjudged Second Runner up for their product designed to sort produce during harvesting stage.
Two commendations went to Team Canister Filter and Team Ceylon Delicacy. Winners will receive cash prizes as seed capital as support in establishing their businesses.
The winning team received Rs. 500,000, the first-runner up Rs. 200,000 and the second runner-up Rs.100,000. Teams that won the commending awards were each presented with Rs. 50,000.
Country Director British Council, Keith Davies, said: “This was the fifth year we organised this competition in partnership with HSBC, one of our most valued partners not just in Sri Lanka but across the global network of the British Council.