The Women Technopreneurs (WTech) Forum of the Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) with support from the Government of Japan, recently launched a report on the landscape for women technopreneurs in Sri Lanka.
The study, based on a survey to understand the landscape for women pursuing entrepreneurship in technological fields in Sri Lanka, aims to create an inclusive start-up ecosystem in the country, enabling more female entrants.
The tech industry is a green space for innovation and provides new opportunities for women and men to participate in the sector. However, the support women need to advance in this space is at times different from that of men. In Sri Lanka, attention is limited in identifying these differences to support women and reshape their role in the economy through technopreneurship.
In line with SLASSCOM’s vision to transform the IT/BPM industry of Sri Lanka into a sector that generates a revenue of $ 5 billion, with 200,000 new employment opportunities and 1,000 new start-up companies by the year 2025, the report aims to provide key insights for entrepreneurs, organisations and policy makers to improve Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem and encourage more female participation.
The survey reached 151 respondents from nearly all districts in the country and was well balanced with 49 percent female respondents. It covered technopreneurs/entrepreneurs using digital platforms.
The findings provided insights into entrepreneur motivation, cultural impact, challenges and needs of women technopreneurs. According to the findings female technopreneurs are mostly entering the sector at higher education levels than men and have a passion to make a difference. The detailed report can be accessed via slasscom.lk/women-technopreneurs-the-landscape-for-women-technology-entrepreneurs-in-sri-lanka/.
The findings of the survey has also led to several initiatives to support women technopreneurs by SLASSCOM and IFC, including a women only hackathon.
The Women Technopreneurs Forum is an initiative by SLASSCOM to create positive change across the tech ecosystem in Sri Lanka and to harness the potential of female tech entrepreneurs to achieve the goal of 1,000 start-ups by 2025. It aims to support, promote and grow women technopreneurs, start-ups and businesses with the potential to generate additional export revenue into the country.