Ideamart for Women and satynmag.com launch ’Tech Liya’, empowering women in tech entrepreneurship

From left: Dushantha Ranwala, Janithri Kariyawasam and Sammani Kusaladharma of Ideamart for Women, Nayomini R. Weerasooriya of www.satynmag.com and Viranga Senaviratne of Ideamart for Women

Technology today has become a powerful tool that can drive greater empowerment and open doors to greater opportunities for women across the world. Sri Lanka is no exception; technology continues to facilitate entrepreneurial opportunities for women in multiple areas of engagement, enabling them to find new markets.

Ideamart for Women and Satynmag.com, two pioneers committed to empowering women through successful entrepreneurship, have come together to launch a unique concept that recognises and fosters women engaging in the digital and tech space.

Tech Liya seeks to empower women by imparting expertise and knowledge needed to build a successful online business in the digital space, which will be done through training and mentoring and will culminate in an award ceremony that will fete the most engaging and dynamic women-owned digital businesses.

The Tech Liya initiative will provide knowledge sharing and networking workshops and sessions for women across the island in selected locations and will include several modules, from business mentoring to understanding how a business works and building a business successfully online.

Commenting on the Tech Liya initiative, Dialog Axiata PLC Group Chief Executive Supun Weerasinghe said, “The Tech Liya program joins a long line of acclaimed initiatives and events Ideamart for Women has conducted over the years in its efforts to empower women in tech as well as inspire and encourage women to enter the sector. Not only will this initiative be a stepping stone for the younger generation and facilitate and empower entrepreneurship among women in tech, it will also shine a light on female role models in the sector, the incredible work they do in technology and how it is benefiting and shaping the society we live in.”

“Ideamart for Women is all about using technology to empower women entrepreneurship. Tech Liya is a unique venture that opens doors for women to make use of cutting-edge technology in building a low cost, yet highly effective business model for entrepreneurship,” said Head of IdeaMart and Platforms Business Viranga Seneviratne, “The initiative will also recognise and reward successful women entrepreneurs to source new markets globally and showcase their businesses on line.”

Commenting on the initiative, Nayomini R Weerasooriya, Founder/Managing Editor of one of Sri Lanka’s oldest and best-known women’s magazines Satyn, said that women in tech and digital space is a concept that is gaining tremendous ground globally.

“Satyn, which was in print since 1998, went online as Sri Lanka’s only digital women’s magazine in 2013. Since then, one of our core objectives has been to empower women through entrepreneurship. Our SHE Initiative already has over 100 women entrepreneurs who benefit regularly from our knowledge sharing and networking endeavours.”

Satynmag.com will be joined by www.liya.lk, the Sinhala women’s magazine on line in this venture which will target women-owned businesses islandwide across segments.

“Technology empowers women today to do their business better and seek new opportunities in building their business. Through the Tech Liya Initiative, we are pleased to combine our know-how with the tech capabilities and expertise of Ideamart for Women in introducing a new dimension for women in Tech in Sri Lanka,” she said.

Commenting on the initiative, Ideamart for Women Lead Sammani Kusaladharma said that Tech Liya will be a unique platform for women to build a business online. Participation of women at all levels – from those who have not started a business to those who have already started and are looking to reach the next level of growth, are encouraged to participate.

“Tech Liya winners will receive funding/marketing opportunities and will be known as certified for digital excellence in their business,” she added.