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ICSUSL

UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIAL

TV Derana

8 December 2023 | Colombo, Sri Lanka
8 December 2023
Colombo, Sri Lanka


Venture Verse is a Startup Pitch competition commissioned by the 9th International Conference of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka (ICSUSL 2023) open to all Sri Lankan undergraduates to expose their innovative products, technologies, services, prototypes or business ideas to an expert panel of investors, venture capitalists, industry giants and academics.


ELIGIBILITY


  1. The competition is open to all undergraduate students from universities and higher education institutes recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of Sri Lanka.

  2. Participants must have active enrollments as undergraduates at one of the eligible institutions and can take part in this event as individuals or teams. A team shall comprise a maximum of five members.

JUDGES
ICSUSL











 
Dr. Kishu Gomes
Group CEO - DREAMRON

ICSUSL











 
Ms. Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson
Group CEO - HEMAS

ICSUSL











 
Dr. Harsha Subasinghe
President and CEO - Codegen

ICSUSL











 
Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana
Founder, Driector and CEO - WSO2



TERMS AND CONDITIONS



  1. The concepts, products or services, which are hereinafter collectively referred to as products, proposed and presented by the participants in the competition should be new and original. If it is a product or technology that is presented, it must have been originated in year 2021 or later.

  2. If there is already a business or company associated with the product proposed in the competition, it should be at its early stages of equity financing ("pre-seed" or "seed").

  3. The sum of equity shares of all third-party investors involved should not exceed 25% at the time of the pitch.

  4. Participants may include information on any patents or scientific publications relevant to the pitch in the application.

  5. By submitting the application for the competition, all participants agree to comply with the Code of Ethics developed by the University Business Linkage Cell (UBLC) of SUSL on intellectual property rights. Those who breach this contract will be immediately disqualified from the competition.

  6. The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka reserves the right to eliminate the participants from the competition at any stage of the competition if the conditions (1), (2) or (3) above are not met by the participants.



HOW TO APPLY


  1. Applications opened on 15th August 2023.

  2. Prospective participants of the event should submit their application online to gain preliminary access to the competition.


  3. Duly completed applications will be reviewed by a panel of experts and the applicants will be notified of acceptance into the competition.


TRAILERS

Our Story
Promo
 



COMPETITION
  • STEP 1
    Once admitted into the competition, the participants will be asked to submit a short video (no longer than five minutes) briefly describing the intended pitch for organizers to determine if it would fit the standards of the competition.
  • STEP 2
    Those who progress further in the competition then will get an opportunity to work with our communications expert to improve the intended pitch.
  • STEP 3
    Participants then will be invited to deliver the final pitch (of no longer than three minutes with additional time to answer questions from the panel) to a panel of judges comprising investors, venture capitalists, industry giants, academics, and general audience.
  • STEP 4
    Successful pitch decks may be offered funding opportunities by investors in the panel to move ahead with the startup, and mentoring and guidance from UBLC to develop and further the business ideas.
  • STEP 5
    Cash prizes will be awarded to the top three pitch decks (🥇 100000 LKR, 🥈 75000 LKR and 🥉 50000 LKR respectively) as evaluated and selected separately by the judging panel (other finalists will receive 10000 LKR each). Winning team will be featured on TV Derana on a post-event interview. Other selected pitch decks will be recognized with certificates awarded by the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.


EVALUATION



The panel of judges may consider, but not limited to, how the following factors and issues relevant to the proposed startup are discussed, presented, clarified and defended during the pitch for evaluation and assessment of the startup.
  1. The product description and the intended problem to solve

  2. Competing products and companies, and product comparison.

  3. Current product development stage

  4. Prospective developments to the product

  5. Market research statistics

  6. Timeline of key stages of the business

  7. Overall efficiency and effectiveness of the pitch
  1. Prospective product unit price and anticipated profit margin

  2. Business model of the startup

  3. Live demonstration of product or proof of product functionality

  4. Current distribution of equity among current investors if any

  5. Reliability of the product and revenue model, and risks involved

  6. Authenticity of the product, participants and pitch
The panel of judges will make decisions on the evaluation and assessment criteria employed and results of the competition.

DISCLAIMER

    The Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka:

  1. Shall not held liable for the dissemination of the material presented and shared by participants during the competition to a third party.

  2. Will not move to discourage or disallow the dissemination of material presented and shared by participants during the competition to a third party.

  3. Waives the right to ownership of the intellectual property of the material disseminated during the competition, hence shall not be held liable for infringement of intellectual property rights of participants by a third party.

COPYRIGHTS

    Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka will own the copyright to all audio and visual media, and creative work of the event. It also reserves the right to record such media of the participants subjected to verbal consent by the participants and publish them in its sole discretion.






CONTACT

Mr. Adithya Padmaperuma
Coordinator - Venture Verse
adidp@agri.sab.ac.lk
+94713447381
Dr. Sadeera Bandara
Coordinator - Venture Verse
sadeera@appsc.sab.ac.lk
+94774432022





   
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