GLX Garage is a business development program for export oriented SMEs in Sri Lanka. The program, just seeing its conclusion, supports sustainable SMEs in the circular design, food and agri, travel and wellness sectors to expand into international markets.
The pilot group of SMEs included Target Agriculture, House of Lonali, Worga Naturals, Serendipol and Ceylon Exports, each receiving personalised guidance and coaching targeted at helping them make the next leap for their businesses.
As Good Life X Founder, CEO Randhula de Silva said, “This was very much an experiment that brought about vivid and deeply impactful results and learnings for the SMEs and us. We brought in local and global knowledge together and had nine experts working with us on different aspects with these entrepreneurs through an intense development process. The structure and modality of this program was agile and collaborative quite different to what anyone has experienced before, helping us tap into the very core of these businesses and trigger further potential to grow.”
Among the nine experts were: Independent Consultant and Advisor Arj Wignaraja; Chief Operating Officer, Antyra Solutions, Naveen Marasinghe; Managing partner, Factor Product Design Studio Germany, Frank Thiele; and Founder of StartupRight, Nio Liyanage.
This chapter of the Garage program was facilitated by GIZ SME Sector Development program through the funding received for Covid-19 response by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).