PwC Sri Lanka powers ambitious young entrepreneurs at CIMA Launch Pad

PwC Sri Lanka has extended its expertise for the benefit of aspiring young entrepreneurs in the country, to help them realize their ambitious goals and ensure their start-ups achieve sustainable long-term success. 

During a knowledge-sharing session at the CIMA Launch Pad workshop recently, subject experts from PwC Sri Lanka shared their insights on pertinent areas relevant to start-ups, while also helping young entrepreneurs understand the fundamental pillars of a start-up and how they can drive their start-ups to become successful entities. 

PwC Sri Lanka has renewed its partnership once again this year for CIMA Launch Pad 2016, which has become an annual event and an important platform to nurture entrepreneurial thinking among the younger generation in Sri Lanka. 

The one-day workshop held at the CIMA Sri Lanka Division Auditorium in Colombo, saw five members from PwC speaking on a range of areas focusing from the financing aspect of a start-up to the importance of business valuation, helping the young entrepreneurs understand the key areas required to run a successful entity. 

PwC Sri Lanka’s Deals Team comprising of Rizny Faisal, Nadeesha Wijekoon and Sahan Fernando kicked off the proceedings with a presentation on ‘Investor take on start-ups’. The session addressed on how an entrepreneur should prepare for an investment pitch. 

The second session focused on ‘Legal pointers on start-ups’ where Dr. Arritha Wickremaratne and Nirusha Ranjithkumar from Nithya Partners shared their expertise on how an entrepreneur could use the legal process to protect his interest and grow the business.
The third session was conducted by PwC Sri Lanka’s Valuation Team comprising of Nishantha Dabera and Trevine Fernando, who provided insights into key considerations when valuing a start-up.
The CIMA Launch Pad is a business idea based competition that takes an entrepreneur’s thirst for competition to the next level. The competitive nature of the event drives the participants to be smart, intelligent and professional, while also bringing out the deep-seated ambition of the participants, helping them become owners who go onto run successful businesses in the future. The CIMA Launch Pad organised by the CIMA Students’ Society, has also been recognised as an ideal platform for future leaders to present their business ideas to an eminent panel of professionals who review them and enhance the business potential through an extrovert perspective. The competition is structured in a manner which includes a rational procedure of appraisal and improvement of the participants’ creative business ideas. 

PwC Sri Lanka CEO Sujeewa Mudalige said that PwC has always understood the importance of investing for the future. “Today, we are witnessing an interesting passage in the world economy, where start-ups are breaking barriers and creating new chapters in the business world. This trend set by start-ups should be encouraged even in Sri Lanka,” he said. 

Mudalige said that PwC Sri Lanka was therefore delighted to partner with the CIMA Launch Pad yet again, as it encourages and promotes start-ups to take the lead and create new paradigm shifts. “We are delighted to be a part of this initiative and we at PwC will always support important initiatives aimed at empowering young entrepreneurs of our country,” he said. 

Meanwhile, two winners from the CIMA Launch Pad will receive complementary conference passes from PwC for Europe’s largest and leading annual start-up and technology event, SLUSH 2016, which will be held in Helsinki, Finland from November 27, 2016.