Lankan Angel Network appoints first female Chairperson

Ms. Chandi Dharmaratne

The Lankan Angel Network (LAN), the country’s largest network of angel investors, has appointed Chandi Dharmaratne as its Chairperson for 2021/2022, at its most recent Board Meeting held in September. Ms. Dharmaratne is the first woman to lead the Lankan Angel Network, LAN said in a media release.

Ms. Dharmaratne succeeds Mano Sekaram, Founder/CEO – 99x, who welcomed her by saying; “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Chandi to take the reins of LAN and the Angel Fund. She has been an important person in the LAN ecosystem, and I can think of no better person to lead the Angel Fund as it continues to focus on creating positive change for our communities, and for Sri Lanka.”

Currently serving as the Vice President of Human Resources at Virtusa, Ms. Dharmaratne is responsible for the company’s global HR automation strategy. With a career that began in New York, Ms. Dharmaratne returned to Sri Lanka and joined MAS Holdings, where she has held many leadership roles for over a decade. In 2013, she joined Virtusa as the Head of HR for the Sri Lanka geography. Since then, Ms. Dharmaratne has forged an award-winning, and much accoladed career.

Prior to taking up her new role as Chairperson, Ms. Dharmaratne served as a Board Member of LAN since 2019. Commenting on her appointment, Ms. Dharmaratne said, “I am excited to take on this appointment as the first woman to chair the Lankan Angel Network. This is a particularly interesting time where change is accelerated, and adaptability is mandatory, in order for us to take advantage of new opportunities. With the excellent support from the talented, and well-experienced, industry insiders who make up this year’s Board, I am confident that we will be able to drive Sri Lanka’s start-up ecosystem to new heights.”

Joining Ms. Dharmaratne on the 2021/2021 LAN Board Members are: Anarkali Moonesinghe, former CEO – CIMB Sri Lanka; Prajeeth Balasubramanium, Co-Founder/Managing Partner – BOV Capital; Dumindra Ratnayake, Chairman – Martin & George; Adil Mansoor, CEO – Promo Lanka; Kasturi Wilson, Group CEO – Hemas Holdings; Nathan Sivagananathan, Co-Founder – Hatch; Jeevan Gnanam, Co-Founder – Hatch; Lahiru Pathmalal, Founder/CEO – Takas.lk; and Sharhan Muhseen, Director – H2O ONE/Chairman – Platinum Advisors (Singapore).