Plans to recruit Lankan employees to reach out to Asian software markets
Finnish-based serial entrepreneur Serviceform CEO, Iranthi Gomes, who made history by becoming the first-ever Sri Lankan to enter Forbes’ 30U30 list for Europe in 2022, plans to recruit Sri Lankan employees to reach out to Asian software markets.
Gomes, who’s originally from Sri Lanka and now living in Finland, co-founded Serviceform alongside her life and business partner Jarkko Oksanen in 2018 with a team of 30 people. Within five months, the team has now grown to almost 50 people. After finding its first customers in early 2018, Serviceform is currently used by service businesses in the UK, the US and Australia, and is available in four different languages.
Under her leadership, Iranthi saw Serviceform raise £2.2 million in February 2022 through a funding round led by BackingMinds, a Swedish VC fund. “We hope to utilize these funds to expand into new markets and introduce new technologies to our product range.”
“Sri Lanka has a very talented youth and we hope to hire a sizable number from it and use them to enter the emerging Asian markets and also expand across Finland and Spain.”
Born and raised in Sri Lanka, Iranthi moved to Australia when she was 19 to study hospitality at the Federation University in Melbourne. In 2015, Iranthi and Jarkko started their first business together – Wheelys Melbourne. A gourmet coffee cart business, the pair would cater coffee at social and corporate events throughout Melbourne.
Only one year into her coffee business, Iranthi quickly realised there was a market gap within the digital industry. And with the help of her tech-savvy partner, she started Serviceform. The vision of the company has always been to make technology accessible to everyone and become the all-in-one solution to digitalise businesses.
“Ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be in the Forbes magazine,” she replies enthusiastically.
“I’m happy to knock that one off my list.”
It was around 15 years old that Iranthi first found out about Forbes. A teacher from a high school business class introduced her to well-known Virgin Group founder and billionaire Sir Richard Branson.
The entrepreneur’s trailblazing story made a lasting impression. Iranthi vividly recalls Forbes playing a crucial role in capturing Branson’s own journey and hopes her story can now inspire others as Branson and Forbes had inspired her.
“I never expected it,” she shares. “I never thought it would happen. With Serviceform we’re on an important journey but it’s still at the beginning. I felt that for Forbes to ever happen, we would have to be much further away.”
Before 28 years old Gomes, seven other Sri Lankans had managed to be listed but not for leading businesses in Europe.
(SS)