Last Month in Impact - March 2025

Dear Reader,

March was a busy month for us.

The highlight was the GoviLab Regional Demo Day, co-hosted with Hatch and Sarvodaya. It was a remarkable success on multiple fronts—extending advanced agriculture technologies to the grassroots, promoting entrepreneurship within the agriculture sector, and demonstrating how innovation could revolutionise Sri Lanka’s agricultural landscape.

Anuradhapura was chosen as the location for the event, as opposed to the common choices of Colombo and Kandy, so that we could be closer to the farmers of the northern provinces. In all, over 4,800 farmers, youth, women, and officials, emphasising community engagement and the empowerment of women through targeted workshops.

Keynote speeches by university and government leaders underscored the need for modernising agriculture, aligning IDAT initiatives with national policies, and strengthening Sri Lanka’s digital economy through agricultural innovation.

As we look ahead, the stage is now set for the Accelerator’s next cohort. With the strong commitment of all stakeholders involved, we are excited about the future of the IDAT program.

Sincerely,

Emaali Gunasekara
CEO

GoviLab Regional Demo Day with Hatch and Sarvodaya

The Inclusive Digital Agriculture Transformation (IDAT) programme celebrated a significant milestone with the successful culmination of the Regional Demo Day for Cohort 1 of the IDAT AgriTech Accelerator. The event was held in Anuradhapura, a historically significant and agriculturally vital district in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.

The choice of Anuradhapura as the venue was strategic—bringing the impacts of the IDAT programme directly to the heart of Sri Lanka’s farming community, a core objective of the Gates Foundation in supporting programmes aimed at strengthening agricultural development and societal advancement in countries like Sri Lanka.

The Accelerator onboarded 10 innovative start-ups representing a wide array of sectors:

• Paddy and cereal cultivation solutions

• Plantation sector technologies

• Protected agriculture innovations

• Agriculture management and marketing platforms

• Dairy sector advancements

Each start-up showcased its technological solutions, directly engaging with the local community to demonstrate the tangible benefits of adopting modern AgriTech solutions.

To further empower women in agriculture, several specialized workshop sessions were conducted during the Demo Day, focusing on educating women participants on utilizing the introduced technologies effectively—aligning with broader goals of women empowerment in rural economies.

You can read more about the event in Daily FT and Adaderana Business.

Meeting with Dr. Nandan Nilakani in India

Chandi met with Nandan and Pramod from Ekstep Foundation to secure their support for Sri Lanka's DPI journey in every way possible.

Meeting with The Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN) Group CEO in Singapore

Our chairman had a discussion with the Group CEO of GFTN in Singapore to strengthen collaboration and strategise on utilising fintech for the inclusion ecosystem, beginning in Sri Lanka and expanding throughout the Global South

Dr. Sam Visits Sri Lanka

Dr. Sam, a renowned livestock and dairy expert, visited us to discuss and provide guidance on our research of Sri Lanka's dairy sector. Together, we met with a wide range of stakeholders, including officials and state run farms on the government side and smallholders, large private farms, fodder producers, processors, importers, and extension service providers on the private side.

Thought Leadership

Technical Capacity Program

We propose supporting the Government of Sri Lanka in accelerating and enhancing the DPI strategy through a Technical Capacity Program. This program aims to strengthen the technical capabilities necessary for the successful implementation of the DPI strategy, ensuring sustainable development and progress. We are committed to this approach and believe it will provide significant benefits to the Government of Sri Lanka.

Company Announcements

We have a couple of announcements to pass along:

For more information about our work, visit connecttocare.co or our LinkedIn.