2022
JKX Accelerate 4.0 Pre-Accelerator
John Keells X - Demo Day 2022
Three winners of the JKX 2017 Accelerator share their experience!
Hear from JKX Judges and Mentors
2019
Can YOUR startup disrupt a traditional industry
Investors talk about the JKX program
John Keells X 3 0 Webinar
Helios & Senzagro Founders Talk About Their Experience with JKX
Why your Startup should join an Acclerator
Why YOU should join the JKX Accelerator
The JKX 3 0 Introduction
Ganatharan Jeyakumar shares his experience on John Keells X 2 0
Marius Ursache MIT Teaching Fellow & Mentor
Growth Hacking at JKX with Growth Tribe
Anagi Perera from Park & Pay shares her experience on the last John Keells X Open Innovation Challen
The John Keells X 3 0 Meetup
2017
2016 winners Jendo talking about their experience with JKX
JKX Open Innovation Challenge 2017 Recap
Growth Tribe For JKX 2017
John Keells X Meet Up 2017
Yosith (Founder, Onsbay) on his experience with JKX
The John Keells X Open Innovation Challenge Introduction
JKX Team Meetup 2017
JKX Decplined Entrepreneurship Workshop Day 1
Alex from ikman lk talking about JKX
Introduction to Growth Tribe
Sohan Dharmaraja of Markify talking about his experience with JKX
The John Keells X Website Launched
How to Launch Your Startup with JKX
2016
Kart Answering Questions
Onsbay Pitch
Synergen Pitching Gesto
Acrux pitching TravelSphere
Grubz pitching
Jendo finishing their pitch
BotFactory Pitch
NicNac pitch
InZurely pitch
Guests arrive at the Open Innovation Challenge 2016
The JKX Open Innovation Challenge 2016 begins!
The stage is set for the selected startups!
The Open Innovation Challenge 2016 underway
JKH staff arrive to witness the startups pitch
Sohan of Markify pitching
Winning startups celebrate
Guests networking at the event
Meetups
Startups get the chance to meet and interact with the Judges, Mentors and fellow participants.
Open Day
Panel discussion on program highlights.
Early Applicant Meetup
Early applicants at an exclusive event to meet judges, mentors and receive feedback on applications.
Tuesday Meetup 1
Mr. Aith Gunawardene, JKH Deputy Chairman talking about the importance of building a fund-raising strategy.
Tuesday Meetup 2
Mr. Charitha Subasinghe, CEO at Keells Super talking about the challenges at Keells Super and how they overcame them.
Announcing Pre-Accelerator Teams
Announcing the shortlisted teams for the pre-accelerator window and introduction of mentors.
Tuesday Meetup 3
Mr. Jit Gunaratne, President of Consumer Foods sector talking about long term branding strategies at Elephant House.
Tuesday Meetup 4
Mr. Ramesh Shanmuganathan, JKH CIO on challenges he faced during his career and the expectations of the judging panel.
Tuesday Meetup 5
Mr. Romesh David, President of the JKH transport sector talks about the balance of corporate and startup work culture.
Tuesday Meetup 6
Mr. Waruna Rajapakse, Executive VP of JKH talks about the role of business development at John Keells.
Finance Workshop
Pre-accelerator teams learn about the basics of finance, delivered by the JKH Corporate Finance team.
Disciplined Entrepreneurship Workshop
The Disciplined Entrepreneurship workshop with Marius Ursache and Vlad Bodi.
Growth Hacking Workshop
The growth hacking workshop with Growth Tribe, Europe's first Growth Hacking Academy.
Legal Workshop
Pre-accelerator teams learn legal basics, delivered by the JKH Legal Team.
Chris Doering visits JKX
One on one mentoring sessions with Chris Doering.
Disrupt Asia 2018
The six winners showcase their businesses at Disrupt Asia 2018.
JKX Office Opening
The JKX office opening ceremony, providing free work space for the accelerator teams.
JKX Tech Talks 1
Tharindu Dissanayake (CTO, Yaala Labs) and Nuzhi Meyen (CEO, Helios) on the "Endless possibilities of Blockchain".
JKX Tech Talks 2
Dr. Sohan Dharmaraja (CTO, oDoc) on "Building Products People Love".
JKX Tech Talks 3
Dr. Yasantha Rajakarunanayake (Director, Technology, MediaTek) and Miller Alexander (CEO SenzAgro) on "Applications of AI and Machine Learning".
Ray Newal visits JKX
One on one mentoring sessions with Ray Newal from Techstars India.
Meetup #1
Nayana Maliwadama, Sector Head of Property Group and EVP JKH and Roshani Moraes, Chief Marketing Officer of Property Group, EVP JKH on the challenges faced in the property/real estate sector and the lessons learnt along the way.
Meetup #2
Dileep Mudadeniya, Head of Brand Marketing Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, VP JKH and Nalaka Amaratunga, CEO of Leisure Inbound, VP JKH talking about challenges associated with branding and the role of technology in the tourism sector.
Meetup #3
Dirk Perera, CEO of Union Assurance and Harsha Senanayake, General Manager IT of Union Assurance sharing some of the challenges with innovation in the Insurance sector and important lessons learnt.
Meetup #4
Mr. Dumith Fernando, Chairman of Asia Securities Holdings sharing his experience in investing and startup mentoring.
Meetup #5
Mr. Ajit Gunewardena, Founder & CEO of Bluestone Capital on his perspectives on startups as an investor.
Meetup #6
Ramesh Shanmuganathan, group CIO and CEO of John Keells IT talking about what it takes to develop a startup followed by a short pitching session.
Workshop #1
IP workshop by Thilina Weerasekara and Ovini Wadasighe of John Keells Research.
Workshop #2
Legal essentials for startups conducted by Anushka Cooray and Ramesh Perera of JKH Legal.
Workshop #3
Interactive Corporate Finance workshop by Yolan Seimon, Eneeshya Perera and Nabeel Lahir.
Workshop #4
Digital Marketing and Growth Hacking workshop by Indu Nanayakkara followed by Pradeepa Jeeva on Content Strategy & Janeeth Rodrigo (Head of Digital, Derana) on YouTube marketing.
Workshop #5
Sanjeewa Gurusinghe, Samadhi Hondamuni and Kasun Chathuranga of JKH Finance on Accounting, Finance & Taxation for startups.
John Keells X 2020 New Year Celebrations
Celebrating the start of a new year and decade in true startup style. Expecting many achievements and significant growth from all the teams this year!
JKX Accelerate 4.0 Demo Day
Pre-Accelerator Meetups & Workshops
Meetups
Workshops
Meetups
Startups get the chance to meet and interact with the Judges, Mentors and fellow participants.
Open Day
Panel discussion on program highlights.
Early Applicant Meetup
Early applicants at an exclusive event to meet judges, mentors and receive feedback on applications.
Tuesday Meetup 1
Mr. Aith Gunawardene, JKH Deputy Chairman talking about the importance of building a fund-raising strategy.
Tuesday Meetup 2
Mr. Charitha Subasinghe, CEO at Keells Super talking about the challenges at Keells Super and how they overcame them.
Announcing Pre-Accelerator Teams
Announcing the shortlisted teams for the pre-accelerator window and introduction of mentors.
Tuesday Meetup 3
Mr. Jit Gunaratne, President of Consumer Foods sector talking about long term branding strategies at Elephant House.
Tuesday Meetup 4
Mr. Ramesh Shanmuganathan, JKH CIO on challenges he faced during his career and the expectations of the judging panel.
Tuesday Meetup 5
Mr. Romesh David, President of the JKH transport sector talks about the balance of corporate and startup work culture.
Tuesday Meetup 6
Mr. Waruna Rajapakse, Executive VP of JKH talks about the role of business development at John Keells.
Finance Workshop
Pre-accelerator teams learn about the basics of finance, delivered by the JKH Corporate Finance team.
Disciplined Entrepreneurship Workshop
The Disciplined Entrepreneurship workshop with Marius Ursache and Vlad Bodi.
Growth Hacking Workshop
The growth hacking workshop with Growth Tribe, Europe's first Growth Hacking Academy.
Legal Workshop
Pre-accelerator teams learn legal basics, delivered by the JKH Legal Team.
Chris Doering visits JKX
One on one mentoring sessions with Chris Doering.
Disrupt Asia 2018
The six winners showcase their businesses at Disrupt Asia 2018.
JKX Office Opening
The JKX office opening ceremony, providing free work space for the accelerator teams.
JKX Tech Talks 1
Tharindu Dissanayake (CTO, Yaala Labs) and Nuzhi Meyen (CEO, Helios) on the "Endless possibilities of Blockchain".
JKX Tech Talks 2
Dr. Sohan Dharmaraja (CTO, oDoc) on "Building Products People Love".
JKX Tech Talks 3
Dr. Yasantha Rajakarunanayake (Director, Technology, MediaTek) and Miller Alexander (CEO SenzAgro) on "Applications of AI and Machine Learning".
Ray Newal visits JKX
One on one mentoring sessions with Ray Newal from Techstars India.
Meetup #1
Nayana Maliwadama, Sector Head of Property Group and EVP JKH and Roshani Moraes, Chief Marketing Officer of Property Group, EVP JKH on the challenges faced in the property/real estate sector and the lessons learnt along the way.
Meetup #2
Dileep Mudadeniya, Head of Brand Marketing Cinnamon Hotels and Resorts, VP JKH and Nalaka Amaratunga, CEO of Leisure Inbound, VP JKH talking about challenges associated with branding and the role of technology in the tourism sector.
Meetup #3
Dirk Perera, CEO of Union Assurance and Harsha Senanayake, General Manager IT of Union Assurance sharing some of the challenges with innovation in the Insurance sector and important lessons learnt.
Meetup #4
Mr. Dumith Fernando, Chairman of Asia Securities Holdings sharing his experience in investing and startup mentoring.
Meetup #5
Mr. Ajit Gunewardena, Founder & CEO of Bluestone Capital on his perspectives on startups as an investor.
Meetup #6
Ramesh Shanmuganathan, group CIO and CEO of John Keells IT talking about what it takes to develop a startup followed by a short pitching session.
Workshop #1
IP workshop by Thilina Weerasekara and Ovini Wadasighe of John Keells Research.
Workshop #2
Legal essentials for startups conducted by Anushka Cooray and Ramesh Perera of JKH Legal.
Workshop #3
Interactive Corporate Finance workshop by Yolan Seimon, Eneeshya Perera and Nabeel Lahir.
Workshop #4
Digital Marketing and Growth Hacking workshop by Indu Nanayakkara followed by Pradeepa Jeeva on Content Strategy & Janeeth Rodrigo (Head of Digital, Derana) on YouTube marketing.
Workshop #5
Sanjeewa Gurusinghe, Samadhi Hondamuni and Kasun Chathuranga of JKH Finance on Accounting, Finance & Taxation for startups.
John Keells X 2020 New Year Celebrations
Celebrating the start of a new year and decade in true startup style. Expecting many achievements and significant growth from all the teams this year!
Krishan Balendra was appointed as an Executive Director of JKH in November 2016 and was appointed as Deputy Chairman of JKH on January 1st 2018. He is also the Chairman of Nations Trust Bank PLC. He was previously the President of the Leisure and Retail Sectors at JKH. Mr. Balendra joined JKH in 2002 as Head of Corporate Finance after stints at UBS Warburg, Hong Kong in Investment Banking and Aitken Spence Sri Lanka in Corporate Finance. Mr. Balendra, a former Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, holds a law degree (LLB) from the University of London and an MBA from INSEAD. He is also the Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Sri Lanka in addition to being a Member of the Main Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.
“Dumith is Chairman of Asia Securities Holdings (Pvt) Ltd, a leading independent Investment Bank in Sri Lanka which offers Investment Banking, Research, Stock Broking and Wealth Management services to international and domestic institutions, corporates and high net worth individuals. Dumith has two decades of experience in international Investment Banking based in New York and Hong Kong with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (from 1995 until 2007) and Credit Suisse AG (from 2007 until 2013). Until 2013, he was Managing Director and Group Chief Operating Officer for Credit Suisse Asia Pacific. He has worked in roles across Investment Banking, Equities, Venture Capital and Corporate Strategy. Dumith is a Non-Executive Director of the Colombo Stock Exchange, Union Assurance PLC, and Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC and a member of the Economic Policy Steering Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce. He also served as Chairman of Lankan Angel Network (LAN) Sri Lanka’s main angel investor organization. He holds a BA in Physics & Economics from Middlebury College in the U.S. and an MBA from Harvard Business School. “
Ajit Gunewardene is the Founder & CEO of Bluestone Capital Private Limited. He was the Deputy Chairman of John Keells Holdings PLC and has been a member of the Board for over 24 years. In addition to this he was the Chairman of Union Assurance PLC a leading life insurance provider in Sri Lanka. He is the Founder Chairman of Digital Mobility Solutions (PVT) Limited (Pick Me) – the leading ride hailing service provider in the Country. He is a member of the Board of SLINTEC, a company established for the development of nanotechnology in Sri Lanka under the auspices of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He has also served as the Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange and Nations Trust Bank PLC. Ajit has a degree in Economics and brings over 36 years of management experience.
Ramesh presently leads the Digital and Technology strategy/execution for the John Keells Group, Sri Lanka’s largest listed conglomerate in the Colombo Stock Exchange, as its Executive Vice President/ Group CIO whilst providing leadership for the Group’s IT Consultancy and Services’ Organization, John Keells IT as its CEO. He is a seasoned Digital cum Business Executive, Leader and Strategist, who has provided effective stewardship for many organizations, including premier, blue-chip, conglomerates, working in some of the most competitive markets in the technology industry. He has over 25 years of experience, with 15+ at the C-level, in Sri Lanka, USA and India with an operational footprint covering territories such as USA, Canada, UK, Nordics, Middle East, Australia and emerging markets. He holds to his credit a PhD (Management) from Keisei University, South Korea, MSc(Computer Science) with Phi Kappa Phi Honours from Rochester Institute of Technology, a MBA(General) from Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka; BSc.Eng.(Electronics & Telecommunications) with First class Honours from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.
Gihan Cooray was appointed as an Executive Director of JKH in November 2016 and was appointed as Group Finance Director of JKH on January 1st 2018. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Nations Trust Bank PLC. Mr. Cooray holds an MBA from the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University, Houston, Texas. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, UK, a Certified Management Accountant of the Institute of Certified Management Accountants, Australia and has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK. He serves as a Member of the Sub-Committee on Economic, Fiscal and Policy Planning of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.