David Pieris Group Launches Northern Entrepreneur Seed Fund

Author Jekhan Aruliah | Posted on January 20, 2025 | Companies, Industry, Opinion, Watch Tower

By Jekhan Aruliah

I first met Mr David Pieris in 2021. David came for tea at my place in Jaffna on one of his business visits to the North. The David Pieris Motor Company (DPMC) has operated in the North for decades including throughout the Sri Lanka civil war. David told me of his vision for his company in the North beyond his commercial operations.

He was then opening what is now a fully functioning engineering workshop. For this DPMC trains our local Jaffna youth as motor mechanics to maintain the many thousands of trishaws milling around the whole province, with over a million such vehicles in Sri Lanka. The young people learn skills they could take away to run their own auto businesses. DPMC is the agent for Bajaj in Sri Lanka, over 90% of Sri Lanka’s 3-wheelers are Bajaj. DPMC introduced electric trishaws to Jaffna, training women to drive them. In 2024 the company opened its software development office, training young people to provide development and support services to the David Pieris Group (DPG). David’s vision extended beyond these initiatives. Ideas are still on the drawing board of this company with the strength and desire to make them real.

DP Aviation is currently, as far as I know, the only regular service offering individual flight tickets between Colombo and Jaffna. Other services involve chartering a whole plane, very expensively. Connectivity from South to North is crucial for all tourism and business. Executives who could not bear the 7 hour trip on wheels vehicle or train, and so didn’t bother, can do the flight in 70 minutes.

David’s vision, supported by his executive team, is to support and help innovate the Northern economy. Helping the people help themselves. This aligned closely with my own objectives, so since that first meeting in 2021, when they ask I advise.

One of the programmes I am advising on is their “Thalir Seed Fund”. This is being launched in January 2025 in the form of a competition. The first launch is in the Northern Province. Once the mechanism is tried and tested, it will be extended to the many other poorly served provinces in the rest of Sri Lanka.

www.dpg.lk/thalir

Thalir won’t be the first competition like this to happen in the North. But a key and crucial difference is the David Pieris Group (DPG), of which DPMC is a member, has a strong presence in the North and across Sri Lanka. The David Pieris Group is one of Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerates encompassing 21 companies. These include operations in automotive products, logistics, warehousing, financial services, leisure, aviation, IT, and real estate. It is well positioned to take a successful entrepreneur beyond just funding. The DPMC has a wide network of retail outlets and business connections to help promote the products. It has successful marketing operations, and for the right product or service the DPMC can itself be the customer. For the right product or service the DPMC can offer much more than just money. In business money is needed, but by itself it’s not enough.

The world is full of ‘bright ideas’. Proposals for this competition need to present the Idea, the Team, and also the viable Execution Plan. Proposals should show the right team, access to the right materials and services. The proposals must be viable, with realistic budgets and timelines. They should have a realistic chance moving from Proposal to Reality to Growth.

The proposals should be scalable. The business should be able to grow to create jobs and incomes and opportunities for a widening community.

Eligibility is simply that the ideas are from people resident in the North. Age, background, qualifications etc are not an issue. The proposal should be technological and innovative in one of the following sectors:

Agriculture
Automotive
Exports
Logistics
Tech-IT
Tourism

While these are the sectors for this launch, Thalir will move beyond these in the future.

The competition is conducted in phases.

PHASE1: Initial application: TO BE SUBMITTED BY 31^st JANUARY 2025

A detailed and feasible business plan
a) The idea: What it is; How it will be executed; Target Market; Budget
b) The Team (individuals, groups, or companies): Who you are; Experience

Send the business plan on email to thalir@dpmco.com or on online at www.dpg.lk/thalir

PHASE2: The Shortlist: SHORTLIST TO BE CREATED BY MID FEBRUARY

a) An Evaluation Committee will go through the applications, to produce a shortlist of upto 20 proposals
b) Shortlist will be offered further support to improve their proposals

PHASE3: Workshops and Support: TO COMPLETE BY END OF FEBRUARY

Shortlisted teams will attend workshops, and get support from consultants to finalise their proposals. Even if you get no further, you will have a chance to improve your proposals to present to other partners and investors.

PHASE4: The Decisions: TO BE MADE BY END OF MARCH

a) The Evaluation Committee, together with industry experts, will go through the full proposals
b) Selected teams will be invited to make presentations to the Evaluation Committee
c) Decisions on the awards to be made

AFTER: The successful companies and teams will be supported to develop their products and services

a) Teams to produce monthly progress report
b) Monthly meeting with DPM Thalir Board
c) Thalir will offer support from industry experts, and for marketing will be provided based on the DPM Thalir Board’s assessment of needs and impact.

The Thalir programme is unusual because it has a large successful commercial organisation, famous around Sri Lanka, pushing it. More than the money, this other support from the David Pieris Group can be a powerful asset to a new business and to its growth.

( — The writer Jekhan Aruliah was born in Sri Lanka and moved with his family to the UK when he was two years of age. Brought up in London, he graduated from Cambridge University in 1986 with a degree in Natural Sciences. Jekhan then spent over two decades in the IT industry, for half of which he was managing offshore software development for British companies in Colombo and in Gurgaon (India). In 2015 Jekhan decided to move to Jaffna where he is now involved in social and economic projects. He can be contacted at jekhanaruliah@gmail.com — )

2 thoughts on “David Pieris Group Launches Northern Entrepreneur Seed Fund”

C.S.S.Kandan 1 year ago

This is an unexpected opportunity for Northern entrepreneurs with ideas without financial or technical knowledge.
C.S.S.Kandan 1 year ago

This is an unexpected opportunity for Northern entrepreneurs with ideas without financial or technical knowledge.

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