The Asian Springboard for Sri Lankan Innovation. A discussion with Vidushan Premathiratne, Founder, 8 Circle

An Entrepreneurs Journey from Finance to Building Pathways for Business

Growth

The journey began in a fairly conventional place. After starting his career in investment

banking in Sri Lanka, he spent several years working across corporate and

entrepreneurial roles. The experience provided a strong foundation in how businesses

are structured, financed, and scaled, but it also exposed a recurring gap between

promising ideas and real growth.

As cross-border work increased, Singapore naturally entered the picture. Doing

business through Singapore revealed a different operating environment, one where

access to capital, partners, and global markets was significantly more efficient. It

became clear that location and ecosystem mattered as much as the business

proposition and execution.

From Traditional Finance to Fintech

This exposure led to the founding of fintech ventures in Singapore, focused on practical

financial problems businesses face as they grow. The work centered on areas such as

real world asset tokenization, which made traditionally illiquid assets more accessible;

idle cash management, helping businesses automatically optimize unused capital; and

technology-enabled scaling models that blended financial infrastructure with go to

market (GTM) strategies.

These ventures were not built around experimentation alone but around solving real

business problems bringing together elements of traditional finance with modern

technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain. Singapore’s regulatory

clarity, innovation-friendly environment, and access to key markets / partners / investors

made it possible to build, test, and refine these models at speed.

Seeing the Gaps Founders Face

As he began working more closely with founders, the same challenges appeared

repeatedly. Navigating market entry and cross-border compliance was complex. Access

to investors was often limited to small circles. Partnerships took months to materialize,

and validating products beyond local markets proved difficult. Even hiring the right talent

became a bottleneck when scaling internationally. In many cases, businesses failed not

because of weak ideas or technology, but because they lacked clear pathways to

access markets and customers for proper product validation.

These were not isolated problems. They were systemic.

Rather than approaching them as individual consulting challenges, the focus turned to

building shared solutions.

From Conversations to Communities

The first step was creating a space where founders could learn from and support each

other. That effort grew into 8 Circle, a community that now connects close to 2,000

founders and operators across Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

The value of the community was simple but powerful: when introductions were made

with context and trust, progress accelerated. Conversations turned into partnerships.

Ideas moved into execution. Growth became more achievable.

What started informally soon pointed towards something more structured.

Turning Networks Into Platforms

To make these connections scalable, two platforms were developed.

8oost focuses on helping service and technology businesses grow by enabling warm

introductions to customers, partners, investors, and opportunities and more, across

multiple markets.

Conech8 addresses a quieter challenge founder often overlook, the lack of visibility into

their most valuable asset, their own networks. With contacts scattered across multiple

tools and platforms, many founders struggle to activate relationships effectively.

Conech8 brings structure and clarity to networks, treating them as the strategic assets

they are.

Both platforms are built on the same belief: growth happens faster when trust already

exists.

Why Singapore Became Central

Singapore played a key role in shaping this approach. With its concentration of startup

events, accelerators, investors, and global companies, the ecosystem allows founders

to build meaningful connections quickly. Conferences such as the Singapore Fintech

Festival, SWITCH, Super AI, Token2049, and GITEX are complemented by daily

ecosystem events that make access practical, not theoretical.

As a top 10 global startup destination, Singapore offers ease of doing business, strong

regulatory frameworks, low taxes, and global credibility, making it a natural gateway for

companies from Sri Lanka and the region.

Learning Through Fintech

The move into fintech brought exposure to areas such as tokenization, idle cash

management, autonomous accounting, and rewards-based access models. More

importantly, it reinforced an important lesson: technology enables scale, but

relationships enable momentum.

By combining fintech infrastructure with trusted networks, businesses were able to

expand internationally through partnerships rather than relocation.

Practical Lessons for Founders

For entrepreneurs, especially younger founders, the takeaway is straightforward. There

is no universally “hot” sector. Long-term businesses are built by deeply understanding

an industry and solving real, often unglamorous problems: inefficiencies, and pain

points or industry gaps not filled by existing players.

AI can help, but it is not always necessary. Existing tools are often sufficient when

applied thoughtfully. What matters most is relevance, execution, and insight.

That insight, the ability to see problems others overlook through lived experience and

the way you go about solving it is the real “secret sauce.” And It is built over time,

through operating in real markets and working with real people and use cases. And it

remains one of the most defensible advantages a founder can have