The 6th season of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), set to begin on 10 July, has secured a significant financial boost just ahead of the tournament.
LPL promoters, Innovative Production Group FZ, LLC (IPG), have reportedly received multi-million-dollar funding support from a US-listed entity. The company has also completed a strategic all-stock merger with Flash Sports & Media, Inc., bringing its portfolio of T20 league commercial rights — including the LPL — under the Nasdaq-listed platform UGRO (NASDAQ: UGRO).
The development marks a major structural shift for IPG and the leagues under its management, placing them within a publicly governed framework designed for large-scale expansion. Backed by this structure, IPG plans to invest around USD 20 million over the next two years to further develop and enhance the LPL.
While the LPL remains the intellectual property of Sri Lanka Cricket, IPG continues to hold exclusive commercial and media rights, now strengthened by institutional funding, improved governance standards, and long-term growth planning.
IPG Global Founder and Chairman Anil Mohan said the LPL would be the “biggest beneficiary” of this development, noting that the new structure improves scalability, transparency, and access to capital while supporting franchise value growth.
Beyond the LPL, IPG also holds long-term agreements to develop T20 leagues in Malaysia and Zimbabwe, with plans to expand further into emerging cricket markets. The broader goal is to transform individual tournaments into a connected multi-market cricket enterprise across South Asia and beyond.
Flash Sports & Media CEO Bradley Nattrass said the integration would accelerate execution across multiple cricket economies, improving sponsorship integration, broadcast partnerships, and fan engagement, while focusing on long-term value creation and operational scaling.
Sri Lanka boosts smart and sustainable shrimp aquaculture with FAO and South Korea support
Sri Lanka has made a significant step toward modernising its shrimp aquaculture sector with the successful completion of the project “Smart and Sustainable Aquaculture through Effective Biosecurity and Digital Technology,” implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources, with financial support from the Government of the Republic of Korea.
The four-year initiative has strengthened biosecurity systems, introduced digital innovations, improved food safety standards, and enhanced technical capacity across Sri Lanka’s shrimp value chain.
A key outcome of the project is the development of Sri Lanka’s National Strategy on Aquatic Animal Health, which provides a comprehensive framework for disease prevention and management in aquaculture. The strategy includes a national aquatic pathogen list, disease profiles for major shrimp diseases, and a nationwide survey covering 699 shrimp farms. GIS-based mapping and farm profiling now enable more precise disease surveillance, environmental monitoring, and sector planning. Laboratory capacity has also been upgraded through improvements to NAQDA facilities and access to advanced diagnostic tools.
Speaking on the initiative, Minister of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources Ramalingam Chandrasekar said the project marks an important milestone for the sector, highlighting its role in improving resilience, productivity, and sustainability while safeguarding livelihoods and supporting national development goals.
The project also introduced the National Shrimp Industry Information System (SIIS), a digital platform that integrates farm-level and national data to support real-time monitoring and decision-making. Using IoT-enabled sensors, the system collects water quality data and provides early warning alerts, enabling faster responses to emerging risks. All shrimp farms in the Northwestern Province have been mapped under the system, supporting a shift toward a more data-driven aquaculture industry.
In addition, Better Management Practices (BMP) for shrimp farming were updated to enhance environmental sustainability and biosecurity, with widespread dissemination supported through training and awareness programmes for farmers and stakeholders.
Lanka Premier League promoters IPG Group secure multimillion-dollar strategic funding from Nasdaq-listed partner
