Colombo, Sri Lanka, March 2024 – Having invested in the tech sector for thirty years across frontier markets spanning South America to Asia, Dr Cornelius Boersch maintains that all markets exhibit similar dynamics. With this perspective, he first visited Sri Lanka in October 2021, emerging as one of the earliest global tech investors to commit to post-COVID recovery through Mountain Lion Ventures, alongside its General Partners, Asad Sultan and Love Yadav.
Despite challenging times, Mountain Lion Ventures has invested close to a million US dollars of foreign investments into Sri Lanka, spanning prop tech, electric mobility, gender-smart funds, and the development of an AI-based tech platform for the Horeca sector.
Revisiting for a second time to assess the ground situation and review investments made by Mountain Lion Ventures, Dr Conny, as he is referred to, alongside Love Yadav, commenced their journey at Hatch Works, a hub for startups. Addressing a group of prominent businessmen in conversation with Mr. Nisthar Cassim, Dr. Boersch shared insights gained from navigating the COVID-19 pandemic globally over the past three years. While acknowledging Sri Lanka’s recent crisis, he advised against a prolonged negative mindset, citing his experience in other frontier markets where post-crisis growth typically exhibits a “hockey stick” pattern.
Dr. Boersch engaged with several companies in which Mountain Lion Ventures has invested, particularly highlighting Liwe Communities, a prop-tech platform digitising gated communities, and Sling Mobility, an Energy-as-a-Service platform for electric vehicles, which he identified as having the potential to become Sri Lanka’s first unicorn.
Throughout his 36-hour visit, Dr. Boersch met with various startups spanning F&B, Healthtech, and beyond. Notably, he spent time with Jeevan Gnanam, Co-Founder of Hatch Works, reconfirming his admiration and long-term engagement with this world-class, homegrown co-working space and startup ecosystem.
Dr Boersch’s visit underscores his commitment to supporting the Sri Lankan digital ecosystem, pledging potential investments in promising startups and facilitating international market access and funding for such enterprises.
