{"id":48560,"date":"2025-08-06T03:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T03:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/48560\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T03:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T03:35:12","slug":"five-sri-lankan-startups-take-flight-with-uber-springboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/48560\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Sri Lankan startups take flight with Uber Springboard"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Uber, the global ride-hailing and delivery platform, today concluded the second edition of Uber Springboard \u2013 an initiative designed to support the next generation of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs through mentorship, guidance, and international exposure. In collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Economy, Government of Sri Lanka, five promising startups were selected for a dedicated mentorship experience at Uber\u2019s Tech Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad, India.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-197335\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-07-31-at-7.13.20-PM.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1040\" height=\"694\"\/><\/p>\n<p>This year\u2019s edition follows on the success of the inaugural edition last year, with a broader cohort and even stronger representation across sectors. After engaging with over 25 Sri Lankan startups, Uber\u2019s leadership, along with external experts, selected five high-potential ventures for this immersive opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>Hon. Eng. Eranga Weeraratne, Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Government of Sri Lanka, said: \u201cUber Springboard is a strong example of the industry-government collaboration we strive to build in Sri Lanka\u2019s innovation landscape. Startups are vital problem-solvers, and connecting them with experienced mentors gives them a stronger foundation to scale. I congratulate Uber for continuing to invest in our startup talent and helping unlock the creativity and ambition of our tech community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Uber Springboard 2025 Startup Cohort<\/p>\n<p>AnyBanq: A digital banking marketplace helping users compare and apply for financial products across banks, while enabling banks to digitize and streamline customer onboarding.<\/p>\n<p>PayMedia: A Fintech company delivering payment solutions across banking, finance, telecom, and startup sectors, while bridging legacy infrastructure with new-age financial technologies.<\/p>\n<p>Helios P2P: A peer-to-peer lending platform that aims to expand access to credit by connecting borrowers and lenders through secure, tech-enabled credit assessment models.<\/p>\n<p>Articom.io: An agentic AI platform helping businesses build, deploy, and manage intelligent customer support assistants, supported by a developer marketplace and enterprise-grade tools.<\/p>\n<p>Ceylon Speechie: A MedTech venture offering web and mobile applications for children at risk of autism to access speech therapy services, with AI-enabled progress tracking and a global clinical network.<\/p>\n<p>The selected startups will now travel to Uber\u2019s Tech Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad for a week-long mentorship program that includes sessions on product development, growth strategy, fundraising, and team building. The initiative builds on Uber\u2019s long-standing commitment to empowering Sri Lanka\u2019s startup ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Varun Wijewardene, Country Manager, Delivery \u2013 Uber Sri Lanka, said: \u201cUber has always believed in the power of entrepreneurship to drive meaningful change. With Springboard, we\u2019re backing Sri Lankan startups not just with mentorship, but with exposure to real-world insights, practical tools, and industry perspective. This initiative reflects our commitment to nurturing local innovation and helping founders build for scale, resilience, and long-term success.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kaushalya Gunaratne, Country Manager, Mobility \u2013 Uber Sri Lanka, said: \u201cUber made a remarkable journey as a startup, so we understand both the grit and the guidance it takes to grow. That\u2019s why we\u2019re proud to support a new wave of Sri Lankan founders through Springboard \u2013 this year, across an even broader range of sectors. We\u2019re grateful to the Ministry of Digital Economy for their partnership in making this possible, and excited to see how these entrepreneurs turn ambition into impact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since launching in Sri Lanka in 2015 (Mobility: 2015 &amp; Delivery: 2018), Uber has grown its presence across the island nation, and continues to invest in programs that enable mobility, innovation, and entrepreneurship in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uber, the global ride-hailing and delivery platform, today concluded the second edition of Uber Springboard \u2013 an initiative&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[45,49,48,137],"class_list":{"0":"post-48560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-entrepreneurship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}