Brandix, Sri Lanka’s largest textiles and garments exports holding company through Brandix’s Disrupt Unlimited start-up have entered into an agreement with Sri Lanka Inventors Commission (SLIC) to establish a partnership to promote innovation in Sri Lanka and enhance opportunities in the fields of Textile, Apparel and Accessories. As Sri Lankan textile firms is looking to innovation to fuel growth with its exports soaring up 15.7% in the first five months of the year.

Disrupt Unlimited describes itself as a “seed accelerator,” that funds and offers mentoring to start-ups that provide production, processes, and various other business solutions to Sri Lanka’s apparel, textile and accessories sectors.

A Memorandum of Understanding entered into recently by the two organisations envisages that SLIC through its regular programmes will identify inventors with potential to commercialise their inventions in these fields and introduce them for consideration by Disrupt Unlimited.

Brandix, which operates some 34 textile and apparel manufacturers, will search for inventors and innovators with devices, processes and ideas applicable to the textile and apparel sector. Those chosen for development may be mentored and funded through an “Incubator” or “Disrupt-a-thon” process and hopefully transformed into commercial uses.

The firm is also seeking advisors, administrators, attorneys, supply-chain experts, workshop conductors and any other entity or individual who can contribute beneficial – or even revolutionary — changes to any aspect of the industry, including manufacturing, packaging, distribution and consumption for enlistment into the ambitious Disrupt Unlimited program.

In consummating the agreement, Brandix director Udena Wickremesooriya said that they are still in the infancy stages of this cycle. Therefore, they need to really go for it in the next five years to catch up to the ecosystems that have been 25 years in the making. A high-priority goal of the Brandix initiative is to encourage and nuture start-ups by constructing a fast-track ecosystem.

SLIC Commissioner Deepal Sooriyarachchi said that he is extremely pleased to see the efforts being made by Brandix to tap into the talent of young inventors. Brandix is a company that values your innovative brain. This partnership will hopefully encourage other corporates to follow the Brandix example in supporting the SLIC.