Meet our Venture Partner: Chalinda
Where is your hometown?
Colombo, Sri Lanka!
Tell us about yourself and your past experience?
I received my primary and secondary education from Mahanama College Colombo 03. I went on to complete my Bachelors in Information Systems & Management from the University of London in 2009. In 2019, I received the Chevening Research, Science, and Innovation Leadership Fellowship (CRISP) hosted by Oxford University.
Why do you enjoy working with startups and investors?
I enjoy working with entrepreneurs and investors for their ability to transform failures & adversity into energy. Throughout history, some of the most successful entrepreneurs have come from very hard places. This was a common sight for the first 24 years of my life, hence it was natural.
What is one thing that people might be surprised to learn about you?
I had long hair and played in a rock band!
What most excites you about joining the Accelerating Asia team?
Startup ecosystems in general have been going through rapid transformation. I believe they have moved from being centralised & city-focused (for example Silicon Valley) to being decentralised and region-focused (for example Southeast Asia). When first came across Accelerating Asia back in 2018, the focus on Asia caught my attention.
There are some cultural similarities in the region but at the same time, we’re very diverse. The team itself is very diverse and this is visible even within the startup portfolio and investors. This is what excites me the most, diversity is not just another ‘cocktail topic’, but practised and the results are evident.
Can you tell us about your investor journey - why did you start investing in startups?
From 2010 to 2016, my focus was on promoting entrepreneurship and building the startup ecosystem. In 2016, I was part of a team that launched an equity crowdfunding platform. I soon realised that a lot of startups needed help to put their story together. I started working closely with the investor community to understand their thinking and due diligence process.
This helped me to help founders become investor-ready which became our key value proposition. Soon we had investors sending entrepreneurs to us to do due diligence for them. I raised about US$ 700,000 from angel investors from around the world.
This experience led me to join the Lankan Angel Network when they decided to set up a Micro-VC Fund to support early-stage startups. I’ve pitched to over 200 LPs and now find myself on the other side of the table :)
What are some of the trends in the regional ecosystem at the moment?
The frontier/emerging markets have focus on vertices such as fintech, agritech, healthtech and edtech. But I see a huge potential for insurtech; in most Asia markets, two to three big players dominate more than 50% of market share and then you find a long-tail. These companies use legacy systems and are efficient. Financial inclusion and financial literacy is another area that I’m excited about.
Why do you think the SEA and South Asia presents investment opportunities?
In most industry vertices, SEA & SA is at the beginning of the value chain. This presents the opportunity to leapfrog, add value and scale.
As a Venture Partner, is there anything in particular you look for in startups?
When I interview founders, the first thing I try to establish is “why is solving THIS problem so important for him/her” Understanding if the founder has understood and committed seven to ten years of his life to solving the problem is key. While the media position entrepreneurs as rockstars, it’s a very lonely and at times, depressing journey. Hence, I look to see if the founders are coachable and if they can move well with people from all walks of life. Everything else (the idea, market, technology) comes afterward. It’s about separating the entrepreneurial spirit from the entrepreneurial stardom.