ARTECULATE
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Premium
  • Features
    IdeaBits-Founders- Mayan-Narendran- and-Dennis-Surendra

    Navigating the Storm: Strategies for Startup Survival in a Global Recession

    Sugar - Founders

    The Smart Way to Save: How Sugar Helps You Buy What You Want and Avoid Debt

    Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

    Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

    99x

    From Strength to Strength: 99x’s Steady Growth Propels its Valuation to $75 Million and Beyond

    Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

    Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

    LEARN | Higher Education

    Enabling the Future of Higher Education: The Impact of LEARN in Sri Lanka and Beyond

    LankaPay Cashless Businesses

    How LankaPay Empowers Businesses to Build Sri Lanka’s Cashless Economy

    Gapstars Scale Up Party

    Gapstars Hosts Major Scale-Up Party at Port City

    Creative Software Development Team Group

    Creative Software Leads the Way in Reimagining the Employee Experience in a Hybrid World

    Visa Value Added Services as Part of Visa Fintech Initiative Sri Lanka

    Visa is Helping Sri Lankan Fintech Startups Thrive with its Value-Added Services

  • Startups
  • Events
  • Hotpicks
  • Community
    Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

    Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

    The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

    The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

    Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

    Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

    First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

    First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

    Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

    Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

    ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

    ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

    Trending Tags

    • Contributor
    • Billboard
    SUBSCRIBE
    • News
    • Premium
    • Features
      IdeaBits-Founders- Mayan-Narendran- and-Dennis-Surendra

      Navigating the Storm: Strategies for Startup Survival in a Global Recession

      Sugar - Founders

      The Smart Way to Save: How Sugar Helps You Buy What You Want and Avoid Debt

      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      99x

      From Strength to Strength: 99x’s Steady Growth Propels its Valuation to $75 Million and Beyond

      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      LEARN | Higher Education

      Enabling the Future of Higher Education: The Impact of LEARN in Sri Lanka and Beyond

      LankaPay Cashless Businesses

      How LankaPay Empowers Businesses to Build Sri Lanka’s Cashless Economy

      Gapstars Scale Up Party

      Gapstars Hosts Major Scale-Up Party at Port City

      Creative Software Development Team Group

      Creative Software Leads the Way in Reimagining the Employee Experience in a Hybrid World

      Visa Value Added Services as Part of Visa Fintech Initiative Sri Lanka

      Visa is Helping Sri Lankan Fintech Startups Thrive with its Value-Added Services

    • Startups
    • Events
    • Hotpicks
    • Community
      Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

      Unlock The Secrets of Startup Funding with Founders Institute Sri Lanka

      The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

      The RiskSense Story: Building a Cyber Security Product

      Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

      Negotiating to Thrive – Lessons from a Hostage Negotiator

      First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

      First wildlife travel-based management lessons book by Sarath Perera to be launched

      Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

      Hack:bit 2020 is bringing the ideas of students and undergraduates to life

      ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

      ESCaPe 2020: University of Peradeniya’s Engineering Students Conference

      Trending Tags

      • Contributor
      • Billboard
      No Result
      View All Result
      ARTECULATE
      No Result
      View All Result

      John Keells Launches JKX 4.0 to Scale Sri Lankan Startups Through Open Innovation: Accelerate, Innovate and Elevate

      Arteculate Arteculate
      December 7, 2021
      Ā· 7 mins read
      John Keells Launches JKX 4.0 to Scale Sri Lankan Startups Through Open Innovation: Accelerate, Innovate and Elevate

      In 2017, the six winning startups of JKX received LKR 2 million each in seed investment. This time the winning startups can expect to receive up to LKR 5 million and more.

      Share on Facebook Share on LinkedinShare on Whatsapp

      Funding, skills and connections are the three most sought after things by any founder seeking to build a successful startup. Lose one element and the chances of success drop dramatically. Hence, since its inception in 2016, the John Keells X programme has been helping startups obtain funding, training and the right connections to scale and grow into successful companies. Popularly known as JKX and now in its fifth year, the programme has evolved with three unique tracks: Accelerate, Innovate and Elevate, which are poised to help Sri Lankan startups open doors and secure opportunities to build successful businesses.  

      You may also like

      Gapstars | TukTuk

      Tech for Sustainable Tourism: Gapstars as the Technology Partner for Tuk Tuk Tournament 2022

      November 30, 2022
      GEW - Global Entrepreneurship Week

      Global Entrepreneurship Week Sri Lanka 2022 Has Begun!

      November 16, 2022
      PickMe Pass

      PickMe Launches PickMe Pass: Enjoy Unlimited FREE Delivery on all your Orders!

      November 16, 2022
      Gapstars | Great Place to Work | Technology | Culture

      Gapstars Continues To Break Records: Among the Top 100 Workplaces in Asia

      November 10, 2022

      John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) is Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate in the Colombo Stock Exchange operating over 70 companies in 7 diverse industry sectors, with a rich history spanning over a century.  From a budding startup to a mature business, there are immense opportunities to be gained by working with such a corporate giant. Likewise, JKH has recognised fast-moving startups’ innovative potential that can rapidly respond to changing market conditions. With the JKX programme serving as the bridge between the two, it’s the gateway to success.

      Krishan Balendra - Chairman of John Keells Group
      Krishan Balendra – Chairman of John Keells Group

      Sharing his thoughts on the launch of the latest edition of John Keells X, Chairman of John Keells Group, Krishan Balendra said, ā€œWe are excited to relaunch John Keells X, which will give the opportunity for both early-stage and mature startups to integrate with the John Keells Group’s ecosystem.  We are encouraged by the progress that we have seen over the years and are keen to build on this positive momentum, with the objective of incubating and nurturing startups and giving them opportunities to align and integrate into our group’s business portfolio where relevant and driving open innovation as a key strategy for the group.ā€

      Wishanth Wijesinha – Assistant Vice President at John Keells Group and Head of John Keells X

      Speaking to Arteculate, Assistant Vice President at John Keells Group and Head of John Keells X, Wishanth Wijesinha, said, ā€œJKX is a startup for startups. From our learnings over the past 5 years, we’ve refined our model to help founders succeed. Today, we offer them critical seed investment to validate their ideas and business assumptions. We’ve also developed a strong curriculum focused on growth and execution amongst other essential topics for entrepreneurs. With unparalleled access to the John Keells Group and its leadership, the programme helps founders secure leads, connections, and mentorship to ensure they scale rapidly and succeed.ā€ 

      John Keells X 4.0 with a difference

      Since its inception, the JKX programme has connected startups with funding, training and connections within the John Keells Group’s corporate network and its partners. Now in its latest iteration, the programme has opened its doors to a new batch of startups. Applications for the accelerator program ā€œJKX Accelerateā€ opened on the 1st of December 2021. After the application period ends, a short-listing process will take place to identify the most promising startups from the pool. 

      Ramesh Shanmuganathan – Group CIO & Executive Vice President, John Keells Group

      This year the programme has evolved with three unique tracks. All of which are designed to support budding startups and fast-growing scale-ups. Describing the philosophy of this year’s programme, Group CIO & Executive Vice President, John Keells Group, Ramesh Shanmuganathan added, ā€œIt’s been 5 years since we launched John Keells X. Every time we had looked at the next point of inflection for the programme to become one of its kind so that the participants can leverage and benefit from the larger ecosystem that  JKH continues to build as a conglomerate. This year our programme, JKX 4.0, is very unique in that we will be launching 3 tracks that are uniquely poised to attract and nurture disruptive startups, solve use-case led challenges as well as scale established players. We also have aligned strategic partnerships with organizations that will broad base this ecosystem in Sri Lanka and beyond. We are elated and ecstatic about this new programme and look forward to building a truly global platform to drive open innovation at scale.ā€ 

      JKX Accelerate: The accelerator programme helping startups grow

      This first track is the one most would be familiar with. Here, the startups formally accepted into the programme would first enter the pre-accelerator stage. Over three months, the focus would be to help the startups reach a stage where they’d be investor-ready. To that end, the JKX programme would offer them relevant training and support. 

      By the end of this process, the startups would showcase their progress, growth and traction to highlight their promise to investors. The culmination of the pre-accelerator would be the demo day, where the startups would pitch their businesses to a panel of judges. This time, the winning startups will receive a seed investment of LKR 5 million for a 10% equity stake and be accepted into the formal JKX accelerator.  

      Once in the accelerator, they will receive further support in the form of mentoring, training, office space and also connections to the networks of the wider John Keells Group to help them grow rapidly. The startups will also have the option of follow-on investment opportunities during or after the accelerator, which can be up to LKR 50 million. All of which will help the founders scale up much faster than if they were to do so independently. 

      JKX Innovate: The bridge between startups and corporates

      A new addition to the JKX programme is a series of business challenges. These business challenges are specific problem statements posed by companies in the JKX corporate network and its partners. Any startup interested can apply to solve these challenges and work with the dedicated teams of challenge owners from the corporate entities over eight weeks. This is irrespective of their acceptance into the pre-accelerator or accelerator.

      At the end of this period, depending on the success and adoption of the proof-of-concept demonstrated, the startup and corporation can get into a mutually beneficial agreement to proceed either as a commercial agreement or investment. Through this initiative, startups can take their first steps into an industry by securing a solid corporate client. 

      JKX Elevate: Growth capital for scale-ups

      Another new addition to the JKX programme is the third track, designed to support promising scale-ups, which refers to startups with some degree of a repeatable and scalable business model, whilst having demonstrated YoY growth. Here, JKH would come on board as investors, injecting that crucial growth capital needed. Thereby, the scale-ups would receive funding, which, when paired with the access and support offered by the John Keells Group’s corporate network and its partners, makes for a powerful combination to grow exponentially. 

      What kind of startups is the programme looking for?

      The JKX programme is open to technology and tech-enabled startups from all industries, not simply those in which JKH has an active presence. However, the programme is keenly aware of the type of startups it’s looking for. Elaborating on this, Wishanth shared, ā€œAn ideal startup for us is one with a strong founding team. They’re committed to a long-term vision, have complementary skill sets, are knowledgeable about the problem and are focused on building a large and scalable business.ā€ 

      With this focus, JKX is committed to pushing its founders to grow. Throughout the programme, each startup has a series of milestones to meet. Unique to each startup, these are meant to help them scale and test the execution skills of the founding team. 

      A glimpse of the programme’s success 

      The winning teams of John Keells X in 2016

      Ultimately, the JKX programme offers much of the resources a startup would need to scale rapidly. From funding to knowledge to connections, all of it is available in one place. Further, the unique corporate accelerator allows its startups to gain valuable insights through mentorship and connections with the John Keells Group’s leadership. The programme has developed a strong track record of helping startups from several industries grow rapidly from these efforts. These include rising names such as HeliosP2P, DirectPay, Urban.lk, SenzAgro, and Blue Lotus 360, to name just a few.

      Describing what the fast-growing Agri-Tech startup gained from the programme, Founder and CEO of SenzAgro, Miller Alexander, said, ā€œJKX is one of the best accelerators for a Sri Lankan startup who wants to grow fast. The programme provides support to overcome the many barriers an early-stage startup could face such as finding that early adopter, dealing with clients in a formal way and especially opening up doors for that crucial first meeting! The John Keells name, brand, and accessibility allows any startup to have a strong footprint in the market. Highly recommend giving it a shot.ā€

      Tags: John Keells HoldingsJohn Keells XSponsored
      ShareShareSend
      Previous Post

      FriMi introduces Lifestyle Services to Offer Greater Convenience to its Users

      Next Post

      How Diversity Collective Lanka is Helping Organisations Build Inclusive Workplaces

      Arteculate

      Arteculate

      Arteculate is your guide to the Asian tech industry. We give you unparalleled insights, accurate, local tech news, thoughtful features and sometimes scathing opinions on where things are headed. Stay tuned for the best of Asia!

      Recommended Stories

      Gapstars | TukTuk
      News

      Tech for Sustainable Tourism: Gapstars as the Technology Partner for Tuk Tuk Tournament 2022

      November 30, 2022
      GEW - Global Entrepreneurship Week
      News

      Global Entrepreneurship Week Sri Lanka 2022 Has Begun!

      November 16, 2022
      PickMe Pass
      News

      PickMe Launches PickMe Pass: Enjoy Unlimited FREE Delivery on all your Orders!

      November 16, 2022
      Gapstars | Great Place to Work | Technology | Culture
      News

      Gapstars Continues To Break Records: Among the Top 100 Workplaces in Asia

      November 10, 2022
      She Loves Tech
      Startup News

      The Winning Women-Led Startups of She Loves Tech Sri Lanka 2022

      October 12, 2022
      PickMe | Laundromat | Sri Lanka
      News

      PickMe Partners with Laundromat: Get Your Laundry Done in a Flash With PickMe Flash

      October 2, 2022
      Leave Comment

      Recommended Stories

      IdeaBits-Founders- Mayan-Narendran- and-Dennis-Surendra

      Navigating the Storm: Strategies for Startup Survival in a Global Recession

      March 27, 2023
      Sugar - Founders

      The Smart Way to Save: How Sugar Helps You Buy What You Want and Avoid Debt

      March 24, 2023
      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      Breaking Records: PickMe Completes 100 Million Rides and Continues to Innovate

      March 22, 2023
      99x

      From Strength to Strength: 99x’s Steady Growth Propels its Valuation to $75 Million and Beyond

      March 17, 2023
      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      Blue Lotus 360 Marks its 5th Anniversary: A Celebration of Success and a Launchpad for Growth

      March 3, 2023
      LEARN | Higher Education

      Enabling the Future of Higher Education: The Impact of LEARN in Sri Lanka and Beyond

      March 1, 2023

      Popular Stories

      • Coca Cola and Avocado: A Partnership Rewarding Food Experiences

        Coca Cola and Avocado: A Partnership Rewarding Food Experiences

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Rhoda: The all-electric Sri Lankan Roadster

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Spotify Expands Into Sri Lanka: Exploring What It Has To Offer

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • Leveraging the Power of AI: How EBI is Building a Digitally Inclusive Sri Lanka

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      • The DirectPay Story: Building a Virtual Bank One Digital Brick at a Time

        0 shares
        Share 0 Tweet 0
      No Result
      View All Result
      • News
      • Premium
      • Features
      • Startups
      • Events
      • Hotpicks
      • Community
      • Contributor
      • Billboard

      Ā© 2020 Arteculateā„¢ All Rights Reserved.

      Are you sure want to unlock this post?
      Unlock left : 0
      Are you sure want to cancel subscription?