From left: Palinda Attanayake, Co-Founder & CEO ; Lien Nguyen, Co-Founder; Irandi Panditha, Co-Founder & Director; Prof. Tuan Phan, Co-Founder & Advisor; Dr.Sapumal Ahangama, Co-Founder & Managing Director
Pic by Samantha Perera
By Nishel Fernando
In a move signalling a new era for Sri Lanka’s technology sector, climate finance firm Xeptagon officially opened its new engineering hub at the Colombo Port City Business Centre recently.
The company marks a significant milestone as the first to begin operations within the Port City IT Park, establishing a powerful launchpad for its global ambitions from Sri Lankan soil.
The launch event, attended by senior government officials, UN representatives, and leaders from the finance and academic sectors, underscored the company’s rapid ascent from a local startup to a formidable player shaping the digital infrastructure for global carbon markets.
Founded in 2019 with the express vision of avoiding the well-trodden path of typical software services, Xeptagon aimed for a global niche: building the critical infrastructure the world needs to achieve carbon neutrality.
“From the beginning, our ambition was to build cutting-edge products that could put Sri Lanka on that global finance map,” stated Dr. Sapumal Ahangama, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Xeptagon, during his opening address.
That ambition is now a reality. Xeptagon has become an international leader in delivering trusted climate finance infrastructure, specialising in Article 6-aligned national carbon registries and platforms that enable countries and corporations to meet their Paris Agreement commitments.
The core of Xeptagon’s mission addresses one of the planet’s most complex challenges. Over 190 countries have pledged to become carbon neutral, most by 2050. However, achieving this is a monumental task, as many essential industrial processes inevitably produce carbon emissions.
“The only solution for this based on the Paris agreement is to provide offset credits,” Dr. Ahangama explained, referring to a system where unavoidable emissions are balanced by supporting projects that absorb carbon, such as reforestation or renewable energy.
While the concept is established, the digital systems required to manage these carbon markets with integrity and transparency have been lacking, particularly in the developing world. This is the gap Xeptagon fills, developing high-integrity technology that empowers nations, especially those in the Global South, to achieve carbon neutrality at a fraction of the traditional cost.
From its new engineering hub in Colombo, which houses 55 staff members, and strategic offices in Hong Kong’s Cyberport and Kenya, Xeptagon serves a diverse and growing global clientele. The company’s engagement map spans multiple continents, with projects and clients in countries including Norway, the UK, the USA, Peru, Namibia, Kenya, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Vietnam.
This expansive reach has been built on the back of powerful collaborations with world-leading institutions. A pivotal moment came in 2022 with a contract from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to develop an open-source national carbon registry. This system is already being used by over 10 countries, with another 10 in the pipeline.
Xeptagon’s technological capabilities are significantly enhanced by its partnership with Hedera, which integrates blockchain technology to ensure the immutability and transparency of carbon credit infrastructure. This collaboration is supported by Hedera’s governing council, including major global corporations like Google, Boeing, and LG. Key partnerships also include SK Securities, with whom Xeptagon is developing a pilot carbon exchange for South Korea, funded by the country’s second-largest securities firm.
A partnership with Fortune 500 company Schneider Electric integrates advanced emission estimation tools, enabling corporations to precisely measure, reduce, and neutralize their carbon footprint, with a pilot transaction scheduled for the upcoming Hong Kong FinTech week. Through pre-bid agreements in the Middle East and North Africa, Xeptagon has presented joint proposals to the governments of the UAE and Qatar with Ernst & Young (EY).
Additionally, the company was contracted by the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI) to develop climate finance systems for one of the world’s largest climate funds, which distributes over US$900 million.
Xeptagon further strengthens its access to key international markets through institutional partnerships with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Germany’s IPD.
The company’s work has not gone unnoticed. In 2025, Xeptagon was selected for the prestigious Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific, affirming its product-market fit. It was also named a top-10 global finalist in the Digital Public Infrastructure Challenge, organized by JICA and the Boston Consulting Group, for developing an open-source registry that integrates SDG co-benefits with carbon accounting.
The firm’s strategic presence in Hong Kong, where it is incubated at the unicorn-hosting hub Cyberport, is a crucial component of its success. Dr. Tuan Q. Phan, an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Xeptagon’s co-founder and advisor, explained the synergy at the launch event.
“We believe that we can build a global climate hub out of Hong Kong,” he stated, noting its role as the world”s third-largest financial hub and its proximity to 60 percent of global manufacturing. “But that still relies on the wonderful talent here in Sri Lanka”.
This dual-hub strategy leverages Hong Kong for finance and market access while cementing Colombo Port City as the core of innovation and engineering. The foundation of this engineering excellence is a team built from the ground up.
“If you take our staff, 80 percent of the staff started as interns,” Dr. Ahangama shared proudly. “That loyalty, that grit, and that trust is what has kept Xeptagon going”.
As Xeptagon settles into its new home, it stands as a powerful testament to Sri Lankan innovation.
“As of today, we are no longer a Sri Lankan startup,” Dr. Ahangama declared. “We are challenging global banks, Fortune 500 companies head-to-head”. By building the infrastructure for a sustainable future, Xeptagon is not only shaping the future of climate finance but is also proving that world-changing technology can be engineered from Colombo.
