The First Capital Startup Nation 2025 initiative by Hatchworks kicked off from 29th September to 1st October 2025, marking a new journey for Startups to get international visibility. Day One culminated in a groundbreaking collaborative experience, Sri Lanka’s first-ever Unconference to shape the future of the Startup Ecosystem. Designed and executed by Impactr, the Knowledge Partner for the event, the session broke away from scripted panels to embrace a radically different, participant-driven approach. Unlike traditional conferences where speakers dominate the stage, the Unconference format empowers attendees to propose, debate, and co-create solutions in real time. Global tech leaders like Google have long used the method, but this was a first for Sri Lanka’s startup community.
“An Unconference is where you leave the script behind,” said Sajini Jayawardena, Co-Founder of Impactr and Innovation Design Consultant. “It allows founders, investors, and partners to speak openly, challenge assumptions, and co-design solutions. Startups in Sri Lanka have the passion to grow, but too often less of a voice and limited access to resources. This format gives them ownership, ground-up collaboration, and a genuine chance to shape their future.”
Themed “Breaking Barriers to Market Access & Startup Funding,” the event brought together almost 50 investors, startups, and ecosystem partners, divided into six clusters. Together, they analyzed six most pressing challenges under the theme: Funding Gaps, Policy & Regulatory Issues, Talent & Knowledge Gaps, Cultural Risk Aversion, Financial and Payment Access and finally Ecosystem Support Gaps. Participants highlighted the lack of adequate seed and angel capital, alongside outdated laws, excessive bureaucracy, and unpredictable tax changes all slowing business growth. It was noted that Sri Lanka faces shortages of deep-tech, AI, and digital specialists, while gaps in digital, AI, deep tech, entrepreneurial and business skills make local startups less competitive globally. At the same time, cultural attitudes toward risk-taking remain cautious, with a national bias for traditional, asset-heavy business models. This extends to banks, which remain reluctant to support high-growth startups without collateral. These being among the problems, apart from payment restrictions and lack of wider incubation and acceleration facilities to accommodate the vision of a Startup hub. “Having diverse perspectives from both Startups and foreign investors at the same time was pivotal, this type of collaboration is just what Sri Lanka needs” added Indu Nanayakkara, Co-Founder of Impactr and Social Media Consultant.
The Unconference concluded with strong recommendations: tax reforms to support startups, incentives for banks to launch venture capital arms, smoother policies for foreign investors, international payment access, and heavy investment in advanced skills development. Without action, experts warned, Sri Lanka risks losing ground to regional peers like Vietnam and Bangladesh, which have successfully leveraged policy and capital to fuel startup ecosystems.
Impactr’s leadership as Knowledge Partner was pivotal. It is an entity that is becoming widely popular for its upskilling programs, innovative strategy, and design-thinking consultancy, and novel events such as Bootcamps, Sprints, Unconferences and more which it conducts for Companies, Communities and Organizations. Impactr has worked with companies, startups, and professionals in Sri Lanka, US, UK and APAC to spark creativity and build sustainable ventures.