Hatch awarded Best Co-Working Space in the world at Global Startup Awards 2021

From left: Hatch Co-Founders Jeevan Gnanam, Brindha Selvadurai-Gnanam and Nathan Sivagananathan

The local startup sphere came under fresh spotlight as Sri Lankan co-working space, start-up incubator and accelerator Hatch was recognised as ‘The Best Co-Working Space’ in the world at the Global Startup Awards 2021. 

By bagging the award, Hatch became not only Sri Lanka’s first, but also South Asia’s first to secure a win under the category.

Hatch won ‘The Best Co-Working Space’ title for providing a platform to extend support and resources to assist start-ups to expedite their growth pace, and for creating a culture and environment that fosters innovation and focuses on positively impacting the world.

Hatch was selected from two rounds on a regional and global level from more than 18,000 nominees. Hatch won against five world-class global finalists who had been awarded regionally. The Global Startup Awards seeks to recognise the ‘future-shapers’ of the world and has awarded companies such as UiPath, Zendesk, Supercell, Turbine and Grab over the last decade.

Hatch Co-founder and CEO Brindha Selvadurai-Gnanam called the win a “reflection of the evolution, phenomenal growth and capacity of South Asia’s ecosystem of startups.” 

“We’re excited to show the world that the emerging startup ecosystem in Sri Lanka is advanced, powerful, and is fostering the next generation of startups. 

“The strength and resilience of any ecosystem lie with its community – our sincere appreciation goes out to all our partners, mentors and supporters who have contributed towards forging this vibrant ecosystem and placing Sri Lanka firmly on the map,” said Gnanam addressing a press conference in Colombo last evening.

Reflecting similar sentiments, Hatch Co-Founder Nathan Sivagananathan shared that as bringing a global platform for local entrepreneurs has been the forefront of the vision of Hatch, the award enables the entity to continue to position Sri Lanka and the co-working space as an entrepreneurial hub globally, and showcases the depth and range of the work of local start-ups.

The Global Startup Awards seeks to find, publicly recognise and connect dynamic startups on different verticals and maturity levels, investors, incubation/acceleration programs, coworking offices and influential founders, working closely with hundreds of local partners. 

Founded in 2012, it is the world’s largest independent startup ecosystem competition recognising the best startups, individuals, VCs, co-working spaces, accelerators or incubator programmes from all over the world.