Sri Lanka’s national chamber for the IT/BPM industry, SLASSCOM- through its Women Technopreneurs Forum -in partnership with IFC and the Government of Japan, recently organized a unique hackathon focused on women technopreneurs, with the aim of breaking stereotypes and empowering women in the tech industry.

‘Hack like a Girl’ was designed to accelerate growth among women technopreneurs, preparing them to develop the next groundbreaking solution. Participants got the opportunity to interact with industry experts and mentors through networking sessions and boot camps where they were able to gain knowledge on ideation, validation, branding, financial management and skill development, among others     .           

This  unique event was an ideal starting point for women programmers to stimulate and harness innovative ideas. The hackathon attracted over 30 entries, with 15 qualifying for the final round. Women programmers from IT/BPM companies as well as budding technopreneurs from local universities across multiple regions participated. Through the hackathon, the participants were able to demonstrate their technical expertise and create disruptive solutions while breaking gender barriers. The event enabled the environment for improved networking and robust fellowship among women in tech.      .

The final 15 teams received one-on-one mentoring for the hackathon by industry experts such as Jina Rajapathirana, Amira Ghaffor, Imesh Liyanage, Krithika Thushyantha, Fiona Nanayakkara, Shaheeqa Siraj, Anojan Kaneshathas, Tharindu Dassanayake, Prabath Perera, Dimuthu Ponnamperuma, Kaveen Muhandiramge, Sanjeewa Pathirana, Kaushalya Batawala, and Ismail Sahurdin.

The keynote address on the final day of the hackathon was      delivered by Anuja Shukla, Senior Vice President of Cloud and Advanced Technology, Bank of America, who shared her experience and encouraged the budding women technopreneurs to keep motivated in their future journey                                                                                                                                  

Team Fourplusone - represented by IronOne Technologies - emerged as winners, followed by Team Engima - represented by University of Colombo, and Team Colon - represented by IIT.  
     
The 3 winning tech solutions included an integrated volunteer management system, a platform to connect volunteers with the available volunteer programs, UNI Cash, a financial solution to help university students manage their expenses and an emergency alert safety app for the personal safety of the general public.
     
          
This hackathon is a platform for inspiring and harnessing fresh ideas and creating an environment where women programmers could build confidence and showcase their technical expertise. This falls in line with SLASSCOM’s vision of uplifting the Sri Lankan IT/BPM industry , expanding  the  pool of skilled professionals and in encouraging girls to pursue tech-related careers while aiding them to overcome barriers or even embark on an entrepreneurial journey of their own.

The judges for the final event comprised of      Anuja Shukla, Sachindra Samararatne - Director of Startup Ecosystem Development at ICTA Sri Lanka, Shahani Markus, Ph.D. - Founder, CTO and Chairperson of Emojot Inc. and Uditha Bandara (MVP) - CEO of Blue Chip Technologies ASIA. Charindra Wijemanne - Co-Founder / CTO of Maturify, Lalinda Ariyaratna- Director International sales and Partnerships of Nimbus Venture, Uthpali Thilakarathna - Co-Founder of Tracified, Dr.Nadeera Nilupamali- Co-Founder & Executive Director of ImmunifyMe Healthcare Technologies and Thanuja Masakorala- Co-Founder of  MintHRM were judges for the soft hack event.The Facilitators for the Pre Hack sessions included  Anuja Shukla - Senior Vice President , Bank of America, Kushlani De Silva - Marketing Strategist and Consultant, Uditha Bandara (MVP) - CEO of Blue Chip Technologies ASIA , Muditha Hettigama - Consultant with PwC training women entrepreneurs in financial literacy, Nevindaree Premaratne - Senior Manager - Startup Ecosystem Development at ICTA and  Aloka Gunasekara - Director - Startup and Business Ecosystem Innovation - YouLead.       

The enthusiasm and creativity showcased by the young female technopreneurs, coupled with the positive feedback for the event, are testaments to the findings of the recent report by SLASSCOM and IFC on the women technopreneur landscape in Sri Lanka. Several follow-on activities covering mentoring and training are planned during the year.  
     
The Women Technopreneurs forum is an initiative by SLASSCOM to create a positive change across the tech ecosystem in Sri Lanka, to support, promote and grow women female led startups.