Business
Lycamobile’s Subaskaran Allirajah: Refugee from SL owning UK business empire
“He cooks for everyone and we stand around the breakfast bar and chat. Some of the most important decisions the company has taken have been over meals he’s made.”
This is one of Lycamobile’s leadership team, and he’s talking about his boss, founder and chairman Subaskaran Allirajah. Lycamobile is a mobile virtual network operator, providing Sim packages to people across the globe, enabling them to make calls to anywhere else in the world – you might recognize its store frontage.
The name “Lyca” is based on Allirajah’s sister’s name, Lehka. “I didn’t want to name the company after her exactly in case it didn’t work out,” he explains. Today, Lycamobile is in 21 countries, has 15m customers and turns over €1.6bn. According to The Sunday Times’s Rich List, Allirajah is worth £180m.
The company has 11 subsidiaries and other parts of the business, too: there’s (to name but a few) Lycaremit, a money transfer service, LycaFly, which offers cheap flights, LycaTV, Lycalotto and Lyca Productions, which is working on the film 2.0, billed as being the most expensive Indian production ever, having released a Bollywood hit already.
“Films as well?” I ask as we course through Allirajah’s achievements. “You can make a good margin on films in India, provided you run it as a business. But more than anything, film is my passion; I just really, really love it. When I was little I loved to watch movies – I’d watch one or two every day. Of course, I never thought I’d release a movie,” he qualifies.
But sitting talking to Allirajah in Bella Cosa, his Italian restaurant in Canary Wharf (it’s opposite his office and came up for sale. He owns the Indian down the road, too), it quickly becomes clear that life hasn’t always been like this. The multi-millionaire grew up in Sri Lanka during the country’s civil war. His dad died when he was young and, as a teenager, he followed his brother to Paris to escape the conflict.
Once there, the family set up a restaurant, then a grocers. The grocers sold calling cards to people who wanted to phone abroad. “Suddenly, the distributor stopped supplying, and customers were running round trying to find cards. Other incumbents were too expensive… my brother and I thought, ‘why don’t we just start selling them ourselves?’”
Business went well and, in 1999, Allirajah moved with his wife, then a medical student in Sri Lanka, to London. Three years later, he set up his own firm, Lycatel, a calling card firm. By 2006, he’d moved into mobile. Calling cards “were great for calling internationally at a cheaper rate, but a pain to use for the customer. In the early 2000s, not everybody had a mobile phone. But between 2000 and 2006, usage increased.”
Allirajah decided to bring across the benefits of the calling card to a mobile platform – so customers would have the benefit of making international calls cheaply on their mobiles. “To do that, we had to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) – a user friendly innovation. Regulations in Europe had recently changed to allow this to happen, and the Netherlands was one of the first countries to adopt the change. So we launched Lycamobile there with T-Mobile.”
Move with the times
Now, Lyca’s reach spans Australia to Poland, Tunisia to the US. Allirajah says changing migration patterns and increasing movement means Lyca’s target audience has altered. “With calling cards, it was individuals looking to call outside Europe. Then, it was intra-Europe. Now, it is the international customer – anyone travelling internationally. People used to be happy with having two phones and having to switch between them; now they want just the one.”
Moreover, voice calls still play a huge part in Lycamobile’s offering, he adds, despite the enormous rise of data. That said, Lyca’s spin-offs focus closely on the rise in the use of data in its key markets: across Africa, for example, LycaTV offers specific content aimed at local audiences. You can see the logic: if you’re offering data, why not offer content for consumers using that data?
“We have LycaTV, LycaRadio – it’s great for customers to have all of that in one place. The challenge for all operators is to strike a balance between what people are doing, what they are using, and be one step ahead: what will they want next?”
A bigger purpose
But what has driven him to do all this? Attempting to extract a grand statement from him, we come to: “I simply took advantage of opportunities that were before me, because that was all I had at the time. Having some success has meant being able to give back to communities who need it. That is fulfilling.”
It’s his team who pipe up: “Subas is the most humble, generous person. He just will not admit it”; “he spends so much time giving others things, making the lives of others better.”
In 2010, Allirajah founded the Gnanam Foundation with his mum (Gnanam is her name). Financed entirely by his company, the foundation will shortly open Lyca Village in Northern Sri Lanka. The village has been built for a community that has been in a refugee camp for the past 25 years. “That is an achievement for me. I would like to do more projects like this, in places where it’s needed most.”
Allirajah’s wife is the chair of the Gnanam Foundation, and of LycaHealth. “She never got to finish her studies and become a doctor [she followed Allirajah to the UK and then studied biomedical sciences], so I said to her ‘I’ll make sure you will have many doctors reporting to you.’” LycaHealth owns and runs diagnostics centres in Canary Wharf and Orpington. It will shortly be opening a new, 11-storey facility, in Chennai in India. “The long-term plan is to have 10 worldwide. She’s the one behind it and now has over 200 doctors reporting to her.”
In addition to opening a village, a medical centre and releasing a film this year, Allirajah intends to press on with his plan to have 50m people using Lycamobile by 2020, focusing on Africa and South America for growth. The company has also just bought Ortel, a direct competitor in Belgium.
“It’s a good year, actually. And there is increasing interest worldwide for launching MVNOs – from football clubs to social media startups.”
Senior business leaders, economists and international development experts, alongside the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, will headline the Sri Lanka Economic & Investment Summit 2026, organised by The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on 12 and 13 October at the Shangri-La Colombo.
The Summit will open with a keynote address by T. Krishnakumar, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd, who brings more than four decades of experience in the consumer brands and FMCG sectors. Having previously served as President of Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, with extensive experience in building businesses and driving growth across emerging markets, Krishnakumar, more popularly known as Kk, now leads Reliance Consumer Products as it expands across categories and builds new customer, partnership and market opportunities.
Day 2 will bring together four international perspectives across discussions on economic resilience, regional connectivity, sector growth and digital transformation.
Lilia Aleksanyan, Senior Country Economist for Sri Lanka at the Asian Development Bank, will open the day’s discussions with a focus on Sri Lanka’s economic resilience. Her work covers the country’s macroeconomic outlook, policy advice and macro-fiscal and financial-sector reform. Her international policy experience also includes roles at the French Ministry of Finance and the French Central Bank.
The Summit will then turn to Sri Lanka’s connections with regional markets, with P. D. Singh, Chief Executive Officer, India & South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank, delivering the keynote for the session on trade corridors and value chains. Singh counts close to three decades of experience in banking and finance, with senior leadership roles spanning Standard Chartered, JPMorgan Chase Bank and HSBC.
The Sector Deep Dives will bring international perspectives to discussions on healthcare and energy.
Tushar Shroff, Chief Financial Officer, Zydus Lifesciences Ltd, will deliver the keynote for the healthcare discussion, drawing on more than three decades of experience in corporate finance, strategic investment and financial transformation. His career spans senior finance and leadership roles with ABB, Piramal Healthcare, Intas Pharmaceuticals and Vedanta Group, giving him a broad perspective on the business and investment decisions shaping the healthcare sector.
For the energy-focused deep dive, Edore Onomakpome, Regional Infrastructure Industry Manager for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal at the International Finance Corporation, will bring extensive experience in infrastructure investment and project finance across emerging markets. Since joining IFC in 2013, she has held senior roles across Africa and South Asia, including managing IFC’s infrastructure portfolio across 16 countries.
The Summit will conclude its keynote programme with Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who will deliver the keynote for “Nation Building in the Digital Age.” The Prime Minister also oversees the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, bringing a direct policy perspective to discussions on digital transformation, innovation, education and the skills needed for a changing economy.
Together, these perspectives will bring regional, international and policy insight to SLEIS 2026 as Sri Lanka considers how to strengthen economic resilience, attract investment, deepen regional connections and develop new sources of growth.
Held under the theme “Positioning Sri Lanka in a Changing Global Economy: Resilience, Reform, and the Future of Economic Policy,” SLEIS 2026 will take place on 12 and 13 October 2026 at the Shangri-La Colombo.
The Sri Lanka Economic & Investment Summit 2026 is supported by its valued sponsors and partners. Platinum Sponsor – Standard Chartered Bank Sri Lanka, Gold Sponsor – VISA Worldwide (Pvt) Ltd., Bronze Sponsor – South Asia Gateway Terminals (Pvt) Ltd., Strategic Development Partner – Asian Development Bank, Telecommunication Partner – Dialog Telecommunication, Television Partner – Dialog Television, Session Sponsors – David Pieris Motor Company (Pvt) Ltd., Hemas Holdings PLC, Sunshine Holdings PLC, International Construction Consortium (Pvt) Ltd., Microsoft Sri Lanka (Pvt) Limited, Official Logistics Partner – Hayleys Advantis Limited, Official Airline – SriLankan Airlines Ltd., Official Hospitality Partner – Shangri-La Colombo, Airline Partner – China Eastern Air Holding Co. Ltd.
Registrations for SLEIS 2026 are now closed. The Ceylon Chamber looks forward to welcoming participants to the discussions on Sri Lanka’s future trajectory on 12 and 13 October.
Commercial Bank of Ceylon has launched ‘Prestige’, a three-tier banking proposition aimed at high-net-worth (HNW) clients, combining wealth management, advisory services and lifestyle benefits.
The initiative replaces the bank’s existing ‘Elite’ private banking brand with Ruby, Sapphire and Diamond tiers, designed to cater to customers according to their wealth profiles and banking relationships.
The bank said Prestige would provide dedicated relationship managers, priority branch services, preferential rates on loans and deposits, enhanced card privileges, family banking programmes and offshore account solutions.
Its wealth and investment management services include access to capital-protected income solutions, dual-currency investments, institutional deals and estate and portfolio governance.
Clients will also have access to specialist financial and corporate advisory services, including assistance with international relocation, overseas property and capital repatriation.
The programme includes lifestyle benefits such as VIP airport lounge access, travel concierge services, property management and medical coordination, as well as access to selected art and culinary events.
The bank said its flagship Prestige banking residence at R.G. Senanayake Mawatha, Colombo 07, had been refurbished, with the service to be extended to other economically important cities.
Commercial Bank Managing Director/CEO Sanath Manatunge said Prestige was intended to support customers in managing their wealth, business interests, family needs and long-term legacy.
Existing Elite clients are being transitioned to the new programme, the bank said.
Ceylinco Life has rewarded 80 members of its sales force with overseas tours to Vietnam and China for their outstanding performance in the company’s 2025 sales competitions.
The group comprised 62 sales achievers who travelled to Vietnam and 18 who visited China.
The Vietnam tour included visits to Hanoi’s Ho Chi Minh Complex, One Pillar Pagoda, Tran Quoc Pagoda and Hoan Kiem Lake. The group also travelled to Ha Long Bay, where they went on an Aurora Cruise and explored attractions including Sung Sot Cave, Luun Cave and Titop Island.
The tour also featured a sunset party aboard the cruise, with music and refreshments.
The 18 achievers who travelled to China visited several of Beijing’s major historical and cultural attractions, including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. They also took a boat ride on Kunming Lake.
A highlight of the China tour was a visit to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, including a round-trip cable car ride. The group also attended an acrobatic show at Chaoyang Theatre and visited the Panda Garden at Beijing Zoo.
The company said the tours were organised to recognise and reward sales personnel for their performance and achievements.
Showers above 75 mm are likely at some places in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and North-Western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Anuradhapura and Mannar districts.
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