Dr. Anush Amarasinghe was born on the 22nd of June, 1965, in Colombo. He attended Royal College Colombo and then Loughborough University of Technology, UK from 1983 to 1989, and received his Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Electronics Engineering. After graduation, he joined Thorn EMI Central Research Laboratories, UK as a Research Engineer until 1992 during which time he patented two inventions relating to low cost, low energy consuming electronic ballasts for lighting equipment.

Dr. Amarasinghe joined SG Securities (part of the Societe General Group) as an investment research analyst and subsequently as an investment banker in 1993 and remained there until 1998. During this period, his work included corporate finance advisory on mergers and acquisitions, corporate bond raising and placements, in-depth investment analysis of the Malaysian and Indonesian banking stocks and comprehensive coverage of the Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani stock markets. The Asia Money Magazine ranked him as one of Sri Lanka’s top three analysts in 1994 and in Pakistan; a team led by him was judged the fourth best by the Institutional Investor magazine in 1996. Dr. Amarasinghe was an early investor and joined Millennium Information Technologies (MillenniumIT) as its Chief Financial Officer in 1999. He was elected to MillenniumITs Board of Directors in 2001 and was promoted as its Chief Operating Officer in 2004. MillenniumIT commenced operations as a developer of sophisticated software solutions for the capital markets industry. Today, its software applications are ranked amongst the best in the world, and are installed in numerous stock, bonds, commodities and derivative exchanges and at various surveillance and regulatory bodies and brokerages.

MillenniumIT was sold to the London Stock Exchange Group, UK, in 2009 and Dr. Amarasinghe left the company after serving a mandatory three years post the sale in 2012.

Whilst at MillenniumIT, Dr. Amarasinghe was also a founding partner and investor in E-Channelling, Sri Lanka’s premier e-commerce platform, set-up to facilitate a convenient way to channel doctors from around the country. Today, the EChannelling network can be accesses from banks, pharmacies, mobile and fixed line phones and via the internet and links numerous hospitals and clinics in the country. Dr. Amarasinghe was instrumental in listing E-Channelling on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Dr. Amarasinghe was also a director and an early investor in Alumex Anodizing and Machine Tools (Pvt) Ltd. (Alumex). Alumex produces a range of profiles for aluminum based doors and windows and was set-up to provide a low cost durable solution to the construction industry. Today, Alumex is the market leader in Sri Lanka’s aluminum market with a well known brand and island-wide distribution. Alumex was sold by Dr. Amarasinghe and the other founding partners to Hayleys Plc in 2010 and is now listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Dr. Amarasinghe’s most recent investment is in Beira Parawood Products Ltd. (BPPL) which he, acquired in 2012. BPPL is South Asia’s largest producer of brush ware and synthetic fiber, all of which are exported globally. BPPL’s customers include the likes of Tesco PLC, Carrefour, Home Depot and Lowes. Since acquisition, BPPL has been transformed to a significant eco-friendly institution where approx. 10-15% of Sri Lanka’s PET waste is collected from dump yards and washed at its washing plants with synthetic fiber then extruded for use in brushware. The eco-friendly aspects extend to the use of rubber wood where for each tree that’s uprooted, a new tree is planted, and the use of recycled packaging and LEED certified factory buildings. The company is also commissioning its own nonconventional renewable energy based power generation plants such as bio-mass and solar. Moreover, it is expanding its production lines to manufacture recycled polyester fabric yarn to be used by Sri Lanka’s fabric manufacturers. BPPL today, is arguably one of the largest eco-friendly operations in South Asia.