Gapstars acted as the Technology Partner for the Tourism Campaign, developing the innovative application that facilitated the entire campaign.
Gapstars partnered with TTT as the Technology Partner reprising its role in the project from 2019 (the tournament took a break in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic).
The Tuk Tuk Tournament is a 13-day islandwide treasure hunt and adventure that crosses different parts of the country, all from the open-aired seat of a Tuk Tuk and targets people from several different countries, and invites them to be a part of an authentic Sri Lankan experience.
Speaking with CEO, Gapstars Pvt Ltd - Hugo Hemmen stated:
"The reason we teamed up with the Tuk Tuk Tournament since 2019, is because we share the same love for Sri Lanka and care about showcasing the beauty of this country to the world, whilst generating a positive impact towards sustainable tourism."
Concluding, Hemmen noted:
“Gapstars hopes to continue partnering with Tuk Tuk Rental [the organisers] to keep building towards sustainable tourism.”
As the Technology Partner, Gapstars provided a charity donation in the form of grocery vouchers to underprivileged individuals, as part of TTT 2022 campaign, as well as built the official tournament app for all participants to use over the course of the tournament.
The application houses a map with key locations, a progress tracker for challenge completions and a hub for the teams to share their experiences.
The platform also acted as a springboard for Gapstars to showcase Sri Lanka to the rest of the world in a view that is more authentic and true to its roots; promoting and encouraging international travellers to support local communities by buying from small, local businesses.
From its earliest days, Gapstars has invested and contributed to long term sustainability initiatives such as ‘Home of Hope’ - an initiative that aims to provide love, care, education and guidance to many children who have had an early struggle in life; and the ‘Choklankande Technical School’ - which aims to enable future techies of Sri Lanka via the Cholankande Youth Training Centre (CYTC).
The focus of the company’s ethos remains on making a difference in industry and community through innovative and interactive means.
Gapstars in the Netherlands was founded in 2015 and is currently under the leadership of its Co-Founder & CEO - Hugo Hemmen, and Co-Founder and COO - David Bijker.
The international company provides software development services for start-ups and scale-ups based in the Netherlands.
As a company that is growing rapidly, Gapstars has a workforce of 190+ employees based in Colombo and seeks to expand the team to 300+ engineers by the end of 2023.