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99x unveils ‘Scandinavian’ identity for next growth phase

03 Oct 2020

By Uwin Lugoda
After 15 years of existence, the Sri Lanka-based international product engineering and technology innovation exporter, 99X Technology, recently changed its name to 99x, while also completing a revamp of the company. The shorter variant of the company name was part of the company’s new visual identity, and was revealed to the media during a press briefing on 29 September. At the event, 99x Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mano Sekaram commented on the company’s new identity and stated that this was geared towards 99x’s goal of embracing a simpler and more distinct look. He explained that since they served primarily Scandinavian clientele, 99x’s new visual identity embraced the simplicity in design of that region and channels it through a simple yet bold logo and look. “Entering this new chapter in our story as 99x, we look forward to further increasing our global footprint through the creation of impactful digital products together with our clients. The new look also embraces the fun, playful side of our greatest asset – our people – and signifies that we are tech team players.” Highlighting some of the elements of the brand, 99x Chief Marketing and Corporate Affairs Officer Chrishan de Mel stated that the essence of the brand is derived from binary code where “ones and zeros are cleverly arranged” to form their new logo. “What sets us apart is that we provide an unparalleled level of collaboration with clients. We listen, advise, challenge, and grow together in the journey of launching a successful product.” Since its establishment in 2004, the company has built over 150 digital products and platforms for clients in Scandinavian countries Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The 80% Sri Lankan-owned company currently employees 350 locals, and has seen its revenue enjoy a 36% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in the past five years. 99x sells several digital products and services to their Scandinavian clientele; these include full stack development, cloud migration, product conceptualisation, mobile applications, user experience such as prototyping, machine intelligence, and blockchain. Seeing a growing demand for its services, 99x increased its team by 200 in the past two years, and despite the challenges faced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, continued to on-board 50 more employees this year. The company also has 25 ongoing, active customer engagements, with the average duration of a customer engagement being around five years. Furthermore, the company has over 50 international and local awards for excellence in exports, quality, governance, and employee empowerment. These awards include the Best Work Place in Asia for four years, as well as the Best Work Place in Sri Lanka for eight consecutive years; the company was also recognised at the National Export Awards in 2012, 2017, and 2019, winning gold in their respective category multiple times. In 2018, the company’s growth was 40% and last year, the pace accelerated to 48% with profitability improving by 30%. Sekaram stated that as per independent analysts, 99x is worth between $ 30-40 million. According to 99x Chief Operating Officer (COO) Shehani Seneviratne, the company made several contributions to the industry, and has worked towards being at the forefront of Sri Lanka’s IT industry. She stated that they did this by building winning products for a global clientele, locally, and actively working towards giving back to the local IT community and shaping emerging talent at a university level. The company’s university outreach programme Dotitude helped over 50,000 graduates from both local and private universities over the last 10 years, and has active collaborations with 20 universities across the country. Adding to 99x’s list of achievements, Tracified, a company incubated within its innovation centre/accelerator StartupX Foundry, recently received an equity investment from 360ip, a venture capital firm based in Tokyo. Tracified acts as a blockchain-based platform in the ecommerce space, and was built with the goal of enabling authentic sellers to prove the quality of their product to the intended market. It can also be used by any of the participants in a supply chain to share information with other participants including the end-consumers, in a credible way via a public blockchain. The start-up is also the first product of 99X Technology Sri Lanka to be successfully commercialised with an international partnership, providing them both the funding and market access. Seneviratne stated that the people working at 99x, in addition to engaging in their core work, purposefully give back to the community, both through the company’s own initiatives and by playing an active role in various industry associations, universities, higher education institutes, and more. Under its new name and look, 99x will focus on creating even further impact through newer and more innovative ways. Photos Saman Abesiriwardana

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