ESCaPe 2020 Proceedings | Page 9

Keynote Speech: “Startups, Entrepreneurship, and the Ecosystem..” By Mr. Mano Sekaram CEO AND CO-FOUNDER AT 99X TECHNOLOGY AND FOUNDER AT STARTUP X FOUNDRY Mano Sekaram is a serial tech entrepreneur and is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder of 99X Technology Ltd., an award-winning, high-quality digital product engineering company that specializes in delivering digital services to European markets. This company, under his stewardship, has been listed among the top 25 ‘Best Companies To Work For’ in Sri Lanka for seven consecutive years and has also been ranked among ‘Asia’s Best Workplaces’ for 2019. He is also the founder of Startup X Foundry, one of Sri Lanka’s first tech start-up accelerators, which aims at taking Sri Lankan start-ups to the global stage by providing necessary guidance and support. He further influences Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem through the Lankan Angel Network (LAN), of which he is Chairman. Mano was appointed recently to the Board of the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, which drives Sri Lanka’s digital transformation strategy as a catalyst for economic growth. He is also the past Chairman of the IT/BPM sector’s apex body, the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM). He was listed on LMD’s 100 Club for 2019, the A-List of Sri Lankan business people who continue to drive the nation’s engine of growth. Considered to be an industry thought leader, Mano was awarded the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA) 2014, by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, for his vast contributions to the ICT industry. 9