James：在斯里蘭卡建立常駐科技社群

0:00開場

0:00各位，能在這裡太棒了。我是 James，James of Ârc，正在斯里蘭卡打造永久的科技與 innovation campus。為什麼是斯里蘭卡？它已經在 boom，而且被低估。Colombo 證交所去年漲 42%，而且才剛開始。Guys, incredible to be here. I'm James, James of Ârc, and I'm building a permanent technology and innovation campus in Sri Lanka. Why Sri Lanka? Well, it's already booming and underpriced. The Colombo Stock Exchange was up 42% last year, and it's just getting started.

0:22對各位來說，它也是全球第五容易造訪的地方，Henley Openness Index 排第五。也有可信賴的機構，走 common law，而且安全。地緣政治中立，國家本身從未如此穩定、團結。It's also the fifth easiest place in the world for all of you to visit. It ranks number five on the Henley Openness Index. It also has institutions you can trust, runs on common law, and is safe. It's geopolitically neutral, and the country itself has never been more stable and unified.

0:43那裡 talent exceptional，我無法形容有多少東西 made in Sri Lanka 而你沒注意到。無論 London Stock Exchange 還是南亞第一輛電動 supercar，都是在斯里蘭卡打造、製造。There's a ton of exceptional talent there, and I can't tell you how many things are made in Sri Lanka that you don't realize. Whether it's the London Stock Exchange or South Asia's first electric supercar, these things are built and made in Sri Lanka.

0:57也是 incredible 的旅遊地。哪裡能在同一天看到藍鯨、豹、大象？有數千年歷史文化，從 rock fortress 到 tea plantation；我認為 Colombo 可能是現在全球最被低估的首都。It's also an incredible place to visit. Where else can you see blue whales, leopards, and elephants all in the same day? A country that has thousands of years of history and culture, from rock fortresses to tea plantations, and I do think that Colombo is perhaps the most underrated capital city in the world right now.

1:17決定不難。我們在 Mirissa，亞洲目前排名第五的海灘。這是我們 HQ。你可以來加入，住在那些房間裡，有點像就在這。本地人從每月 200 美元起。不必住我們 accommodation，長這樣。It wasn't a hard decision. We actually are located in Mirissa, on Asia's currently ranked fifth-best beach. This is our HQ. You can come and join us and live in one of those rooms, kind of like right here. We start from $200 a month for locals. You don't have to stay in our accommodation. It looks like this.

1:37總部平台與加速器

1:37你可以自己選，現在也有成員 accommodation 加食物每月不到 500 美元。我們在這個 HQ 建 platform。我們認為這個地方，有對的人、program、對的 capital，可以打造改變整個國家 trajectory 的公司。You can choose your own, and we even have some members right now that are staying for less than $500 a month on accommodation and food. We're building a platform at this HQ. We think this place, with the right people and programs, with the right capital, can build the companies that can change the trajectory of an entire country.

1:58這就是 Ârc 在斯里蘭卡要做的事。我 2013 年開始做 venture 投資。這是 2013 年 London Google Campus 的照片，我在裡面。這個房間跟現在一樣，滿是來自世界各地 incredible 的 international founder。That is what Ârc is in Sri Lanka to do. Now, I started investing in venture in 2013. This is a picture at Google Campus in London with me in it from 2013. And this room is full, just like this one, of incredible international founders from all across the world.

2:14這也是為什麼在 UK 和 US，多數 tech unicorn 有 immigrant founder。我們要把那種 talent 帶到斯里蘭卡，和斯里蘭卡人一起在斯里蘭卡 build。And this is why, in both the UK and the US, a majority of tech unicorns have an immigrant founder. We're going to bring that talent to Sri Lanka to work with and build alongside Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka.

2:29數萬 founder 打造數十、甚至數百家 unicorn。你聽過人、地點、HQ 了，program 呢？我們在斯里蘭卡 literally 才剛開始，我很高興宣布有些 amazing partner 在我們 Mirissa platform 上跑 program。Tens of thousands of founders building tens, if not hundreds, of unicorns. So, you've heard about the people and the place and our HQ. What about the programs? Well, we've literally barely started in Sri Lanka, and I'm really pleased to announce we've got some amazing partners that are running programs on top of our platform in Mirissa.

2:48第一是 Fulgur Ventures，全球 Bitcoin 公司最大、最多產的 investor，在我們南部 HQ 跑 continuous accelerator，投資 Bitcoin 公司。The first is Fulgur Ventures. It's the largest and most prolific investor in Bitcoin companies in the world, and they're running a continuous accelerator out of our HQ in the south, where they're investing in Bitcoin companies.

3:00也為還沒 ready 的 Bitcoin builder 提供 sponsorship。Ârc 不只 accelerate founder，也能 accelerate fund。Curious Ventures 是 1000 萬美元 pre-seed fund。他在 audience 嗎，還是走了？在後面，legend。在 Ârc 構想 fund，在 Ârc 募第一批 LP，第一張 ticket 投給其他 Ârc 成員。 shout out Amplify。And providing sponsorships for Bitcoin builders that aren't ready just yet. Now, Ârc doesn't just accelerate founders. We can accelerate funds. Curious Ventures is a $10 million pre-seed fund. Is he in the audience, or has he left me? There he is at the back. Legend. Conceived his fund at Ârc, raised his first LPs whilst at Ârc, and deployed his first ticket into other Ârc members. Shout out to Amplify.

3:26投資與三階段計畫

3:26可以去 withamplify.ai 看看。他們 specifically 撥 100 萬美元給在斯里蘭卡 Ârc building 的 founder。來找 Ashish 拿這筆錢。我們也想幫助更多人投資。我們跑 syndicate，Ârc Angel 正在做第一批投資。You can go to withamplify.ai and check them out. And they're actually specifically allocating $1 million to founders that are building at Ârc in Sri Lanka. So come and get that money from Ashish in Sri Lanka. We want to help people invest more as well. So actually, we run a syndicate, and we're making our first investments from Ârc Angel right now.

3:49Matt 或 Paloma 的 James Zachariah 在嗎？這邊有一位，第二位呢？ incredible founder，謝謝。謝謝讓我們跟你們一起 build。你們會非常成功。again，是人加地點加 program。這是我們在建的 platform。到目前為止講的只是 Ârc 在斯里蘭卡工作的 stage，或 phase one of three。Is Matt or James Zachariah from Paloma just here? Yeah, we've got one here. Where's the second? Incredible founders, thank you. Thank you so much for letting us build alongside you. You're going to be incredibly successful. Again, it's people in a place. With programs, this is the platform that we are, that we're building. And what I've been talking about here so far is just stage, or phase one of three, of the work that Ârc is doing in Sri Lanka.

4:16這會是在南部既有 Sri Lankan infrastructure 上建的 innovation campus。phase two，我們要從零建一座 innovation、technology town。斯里蘭卡正在 boom，不只是股票，房地產也是。定價是 Bali 的 10% 但好 10 倍，那就是機會。This results in an innovation campus built on existing Sri Lankan infrastructure in the south. But for phase two, we're going to build an innovation and technology town completely from scratch. Sri Lanka is booming, and it's not just the stocks, it's the real estate too. When you're priced at 10% of Bali but 10 times better, that is an opportunity.

4:39我們開始蓋了。這份 100 人名單裡已有 32 位具名 developer、investor、community leader，要跟我們一起建那座 town。不是這座，這是 Port City，Colombo 的 special economic zone。我們要建自己的。有興趣就找我。phase three 是 secret，明年再說。So, we're starting to build. We've already got 32 named people in this list of 100 developers, investors, and community leaders. To build that town together with us. Not this town, actually. This is Port City. It's a special economic zone in Colombo. We're going to build our own. But look, if that's interesting, reach out to me. As for phase three, it's secret, and I'll have to tell you next year.

5:03邀請你到斯里蘭卡

5:03但看，斯里蘭卡會是成功故事。不是 if，而是你是否願意成為小故事的一部分。就像我去年說的，不只你做什麼重要，你在哪做也重要。But look, Sri Lanka is going to be a success story. It's not if, it's just whether you are a small part of that story. And as I said last year, it doesn't matter just what you do, it matters where you do it.

5:18所以請把這當非常正式的邀請。請來斯里蘭卡，在 Ârc 做。非常感謝。So, please take this as a very formal invitation. Please come and do it in Sri Lanka, and do it at Ârc. Thank you very much.