Where Sri Lanka’snext creators begin

A launchpad for emerging creators

Digital Turtles, a digital strategy and social advocacy agency in Colombo, runs Creator Incubator as a startup-style programme for people who want to turn content creation into a career. Participants learn skills, meet industry experts and get connected to the creator community. They are encouraged to use their channels to tell stories that give voice to the communities they come from.

Digital Turtles hopes previous cohorts will become mentors for later batches, building one of the largest creator communities in Sri Lanka, spread across every district.

From an open workshop to a funded cohort

• 01

  Online workshops

  Three online workshops run in English, Sinhala and Tamil, each with 100 participants guided by trained experts in digital content creation.

• 02

  Selection

  From the 300 workshop participants, 50 talented young creators are chosen for the full incubator programme.

• 03

  The full programme

  Selected creators join intensive workshops, masterclasses and mentorship, with in-person sessions in Colombo and Jaffna, networking and a USD 200 grant to start creating.

Craft, growth and responsibility

The first edition ran as a hackathon covering these topics.

• 01

  Starting a YouTube channel

• 02

  Leveraging digital media for marketing

• 03

  Empowering youth through storytelling

• 04

  Adaptive leadership and empathy building

• 05

  Collaboration for a stronger creator community

• 06

  Social media growth-hacking

• 07

  Videography and editing

Two editions, growing demand

1. 2022 · Year one

   Launched by Digital Turtles as a first-of-its-kind creator empowerment programme, starting in April. In-person workshops in Colombo and Jaffna. Creators came from every province and worked in all three languages. Participants reported remarkable growth in their content channels by the end of the year.

2. 2023 · Year two

   Over 1,000 applications received. 50 young creators selected again, with workshops in Colombo and Jaffna. Applications opened on 16 June 2023.

Supported by and press coverage

The 2023 edition was supported by the International Republican Institute (IRI), with funding from USAID.

• Creator Incubator year two kicks off, Daily FT, 23 June 2023
• Creator Incubator year two kicks off, Colombo Gazette
• Digital Turtles launches Creator Incubator, Lanka Business News
• Digital Turtles launches Creator Incubator, Brunch

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Creator stories

Channels built by Creator Incubator alumni.