Tracified, a Sri Lankan Startup Incubated by 99X Technology receives Japanese Investment

August, 13, 2020

99X Technology is pleased to announce that Tracified, a company incubated within its innovation center/accelerator StartupX Foundry, has received an equity investment from 360ip, a venture capital firm based in Tokyo. Tracified is a blockchain-based traceability solution.

Mano Sekaram, CEO and Co-Founder of 99X Technology and Founder of StartupX Foundry commented: “I’m delighted to see Tracified reach this milestone, a tipping-point in the journey of becoming a global offering in this space. When we formed StartupX Foundry in 2017, it was as a corporate accelerator to provide a platform to enable our employees to build their own startups. We give them the mentoring, funding and environment to nurture their entrepreneurial spirit. I believe that every employee at 99X has the potential to be an innovator or an entrepreneur. Being able to provide such opportunities is what makes us different and lets us rank consistently as a Great Place to Work. I applaud the founders of Tracified, Dileepa Jayathilaka and Uthpalie Thilakarathna, for their courage to pursue this idea and build a winning product.”

Tracified is a blockchain-based traceability solution that connects the entire supply chain. The solution can be applied to scenarios when its crucial to assure the integrity of the supply chain. Whether it’s organic produce or Atlantic salmon, Tracified can identify and record movement, temperature and storage durations across every stage, using a multitude of tracking technologies.

A delegation from 360ip visited Sri Lanka in December 2019 to evaluate Tracified and its potential for the Japanese market. Asashi Fujimori, CEO of 360ip Japan, stated: “360ip has a focus on investing and developing advanced science and technology ventures on a global scale. Although Sri Lanka's potential in developing advanced ICT services and products is known to many, only a very few early-stage technology startups survive beyond seed round, due to the lack of a well-established venture capital financing framework with an effective technology commercialization methodology. 360ip wants to bridge that gap by supporting promising startup ventures to develop their technology and business beyond Sri Lanka.”

He further added: “Tracified was identified by 360ip as a promising venture that has clear potential in developing its technology and business on a global scale. As a startup venture backed by 99X Technology, Tracified had adopted a technology development methodology of an excellent standard from its inception, powered by a team of highly skilled tech professionals. Further, its Blockchain technology for modern traceability in diverse business domains has the ability to disrupt and transform conventional global supply chains towards Industry 4.0, while realizing sustainable development goals, to enable fair and transparent trading.”

Tracified has been recognized in both national and international forums. In 2018, Tracified won the Founder Institute Scholarship for the Best Sustainability Startup Pitch at the Oslo Innovation Week. The product was also recognized at the 2017 E-Swabhimani Digital Social Impact Awards, where it emerged winner of the Business/Commerce category and at the National Best Quality Software Awards (NBQSA), where it won Gold in the e-Logistics and Supply Chain Management Category.

Dileepa Jayathilaka, Co-founder Tracified stated: “This is international recognition of our Blockchain competency. We are proud to be one of the first traceability solutions in the public blockchain. While we have built many award-winning products during the past 10 years through our cutting-edge research, Tracified is the first product we have successfully commercialized with an international partnership, providing us both funding and market access.” Tracified joins the list of Sri Lankan startups receiving global recognition, yet another reason to celebrate Sri Lankan ingenuity.

 

Photo caption: Tracified Co-founders Uthpalie Thilakarathna and Dileepa Jayathilaka

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