As the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sri Lanka takes shape, incubators and accelerators can play an important role by moving beyond a focus on specific entrepreneurs to a broader field-building or ecosystem approach. This expanded vision is especially important for identifying and building on the potential of a gender-responsive ecosystem—an ecosystem that will strengthen the Sri Lankan economy as a whole.

The following analysis sets out several reframes to give local accelerators and incubators new perspectives on how to bring about change at a systems level. Seeing the role that narratives and reframes can play in finance is an important step in revisiting the processes and practices of finance: dominant narratives often serve to maintain existing power structures and can lead to the belief that systems are fixed and not open to change. Reframes challenge these narratives, encouraging critical thinking and questioning of established norms.  

This paper was released as part of GRIT, a six-year initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada to address the economic gap for women’s empowerment particularly in Northern Sri Lanka. The initiative includes local partners who are the leading incubators, accelerators, and network builders on the ground – Hatch, Lanka Impact Investing Network and Yarl IT Hub – to shift power structures in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and build out gender lens investing practices in Sri Lanka.

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