Our Story
Every story has a beginning, punch line and an end - Ours Is Still in the Making
How it all started piece by piece of the jig saw puzzle to create a brand that reflects, radiates and resonates the deepest desire of every human being to explore the limits of possibility and extend it
"I don't know why but from my young days, I was really fascinated by mountains. There was that mystic beauty in mountains that was really hard to compose in words. Looking back, I can draw comparisons as to why there are so many similarities between mountains and life.
When we look at mountains, we are often awe-struck by the beauty and the scenery of it. Often times, it humbles us and makes us realise that we are just a 'speck' in this ever-growing universe. When we climb a mountain through tough terrain and reach the top, we get to experience the beauty of the valley and the realization that the 'the best views come after the toughest climb'; the same feeling when we look back at our journey and the countless challenges we overcame to get to where we are today.
Another feeling which I've experienced is the fact that just like this mountain has it's own shape, form, scenery, beauty and identity; there must be a unique identity and calling for my life. Maybe God (or the universe or a higher-being - which ever you believe) created something magical and unique; that if we discover it and share it; it will create a sense of awe in people and communities.
Enough with the mountains. Let's get started with our story; shall we?
In October 2016, I had to do research for my final year project for my undergraduate studies. Desperate to find a topic, I began researching about entrepreneurship and its impact on the social wellbeing. One particular aspect of entrepreneurship gained my attention more than anything else; it's small businesses. The mom-and-pop shop in the street corner which sells homemade biscuits, the small cart that sells sweets and the truck on wheel which makes amazing pizza on the go.
During the latter part of 2016, I got to know that SpaceX and several other companies and government entities including NASA are planning to colonize Mars before 2030. Although it remains skeptical, it opened my eyes to another dimension.
Going to another planet is a pretty big deal! It's not in any way a small feat of engineering, technology and sheer willpower. Going against all the odds to explore the horizon and extend the human consciousness. It sounds crazy but it's going to happen whether we like it or not! We are talking about an entire shift in reality and how we consider delivering value to humanity.
Think about how we would do business? What opportunities would lie ahead of us? How would we forge our pathway on Mars and eventually when we go out exploring other planets, stars and eventually galaxies in the universe? Think about how rapidly the transportation system would evolve once the inter-planetary transportation systems improve? Think about how it would impact the social, economic and cultural fabrics of society.
With the emergence of Industry 4.0, the exponential improvements of Automation, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence have made it impossible to imagine or to predict the world that we would live in a few decades from now. Businesses around the globe are investing heavily in Industry 4.0 technology and best business practices to ensure that they remain relevant in this new Industrial Revolution.
During my research, I spoke to several small business owners and one of the factors which kept on popping up was the lack of affordable cutting-edge tools small businesses can use. Although this is far from the truth, I did research about their knowledge of the current transition from Industry 3.0 to Industry 4.0 and the results were shocking.
Most of the business owners were unaware of the digital revolution which is taking place in this world right now. Lack of awareness will be the main reason that most businesses will be wiped off and it was sad to realise that most of the potentially affected businesses are the small businesses; the mom and pop shop which sells tea in a corner, the street food vendor who makes Rotti (a form of pancake type made with flour, salt, water and coconut in Sri Lanka) in a wooden cart and the bookshop owner who runs the business to support his family.
So, I made a Windows 10 Universal Windows Platform (UWP) based app to manage all the resources for my friend's small business. It went on to be featured as a case study on Syncfusion (Check it out here!) which made me realise that "hey, we can make ourselves something out of this approach!"
So that was the birth of 'CipherDev Labs™'!
We created and designed 'CipherDev Labs™' to enable businesses to accelerate innovation by challenging people and businesses to "extend the limits of possibility™"!
I started my Master's Degree in Technology Management from the Staffordshire University, UK in February 2018 almost immediately after my Bachelor's Degree in Applied Information Technology. My dissertation project which was a "Blockchain Technology implementation framework to increase the performance of Fresh Produce Supply Chains in Sri Lanka" was selected as the "Best Technology or Framework Innovation" at the Sri Lanka Association of Software and Service Companies (SLASSCOM) Innovation Awards and Gala 2019 which was held on Thursday, the 14th of November 2019 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
SLASSCOM Innovation Awards 2019 - Winner - "Best Technology or Framework Innovation"
In May 2019, we saw another opportunity of the lack of solid knowledge on Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation learning solutions to address the significant gap in Industry 4.0 domain-specific knowledge on a variety of industries such as Maritime, Aerospace, Retail, Aquaculture and a whole lot more. This paved the way to create our exclusive Online Learning platform "CipherDev Labs™ Learn". On 4th of January 2023, we started serving over 10,000 students in 120 countries worldwide using our "CipherDev Labs™ Learn" platform on Udemy.
Fast forward to five years since I began my journey with Udemy, my business was recognised as a 'Udemy Instructor Partner' (which is basically the 'Top 0.45% out of more than 77,000+ Udemy Instructors in the World'!). We have now created value for more than 38,000 students in 148 countries!
This is our story in the making! As each year passes by, this story will grow and continue to expand till we reach our destination! Thank you for being a part of our journey!"
Deshan Kuruvita - Aratchy
CEO and Founder
Tuesday, the 25th of June 2024