A Childhood of Contrasts
When Sharanyan Sharma was born on October 4, 1983, in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, the country was already entering a turbulent chapter of its history. Growing up amid uncertainty, Sharma’s earliest years were shaped by resilience more than privilege.
Now in his early forties, he looks back on those years as the foundation of his entrepreneurial grit. “I didn’t think about becoming an entrepreneur in the way people speak of it today,” he recalls. “I thought about creating opportunities—first for myself, and eventually for others.”
That mindset has quietly guided him from a small town in Sri Lanka to boardrooms across the United States and Europe.
A Company Born Out of Necessity
In 2008, at a time when digital marketing was still a foreign concept in much of South Asia, Sharma started what would later become Prime One Global. It began with trial and error—small projects, late nights, and little certainty.
Seventeen years later, Prime One Global has grown into an award-winning performance marketing agency employing more than 70 professionals across Sri Lanka and beyond, working with clients as far away as the United States and Europe.
But for Sharma, the company is more than its numbers. “I wanted to prove that a business from Northern Sri Lanka could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with agencies in London or New York,” he says, with a quiet conviction rather than boast.
Expanding Horizons: Altitude1
In 2024, he founded Altitude1, headquartered in Estonia, focusing on market intelligence and digital transformation. The company’s Nordic base signals a deliberate choice: to bridge emerging South Asian expertise with European market needs.
If Prime One Global was about mastering execution, Altitude1 is about data and foresight—helping businesses anticipate trends, not just react to them.
Balancing Books and Boardrooms
Sharanyan Sharma is not only a practitioner but also a student. Currently pursuing an MSc in Strategic Marketing at Queen Margaret University, UK, and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing at SLIM, Sri Lanka.
His pursuit of knowledge mirrors his business philosophy: stay curious, stay adaptive. “Education, whether formal or self-taught, keeps you from becoming complacent,” he says.
Recognition Along the Way
Over the years, Sharma has received awards including Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year (2013) and Sri Lanka Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2012). Yet he treats recognition as markers, not goals.
“They remind me of the journey,” he says, “but they don’t define it.”
Teaching, Mentoring, Sharing
Outside his ventures, Sharma has worn many hats: guest lecturer at SLIIT Business School, resource specialist at the University of Vavuniya, and corporate trainer at the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing.
He has delivered lectures on entrepreneurship, digital tools, and global opportunities, often speaking directly to young people who remind him of his younger self—uncertain, but searching for a way forward.
A Life Beyond Work
For all the global projects and late-night calls, Sharma resists the idea of being defined by work alone. His life revolves around his family—his spouse, Piratheepa, and their two children, Sri Haris and Sri Haranya.
He is also known for his love of automobiles: his Range Rover Sport, Audi A5, and Mercedes CLA are less about luxury than about passion. “Cars remind me of journeys,” he says with a smile. “And I’ve always been about journeys, not destinations.”
Travel, too, is part of his rhythm—business trips that often double as moments of cultural exploration, whether in London, Berlin, or California.
Lessons in Philosophy
If there’s a thread running through Sharma’s story, it is meaning over metrics.
“Don’t chase greatness,” he says, pausing as if weighing each word. “Chase meaning. If your work is meaningful—to you and to others—the greatness will follow.”
It’s the kind of line that could be mistaken for a motivational poster. But in Sharma’s case, it comes not from a book, but from lived experience.
Looking Forward
Sharma’s next chapter is still unfolding. He is investing in neuromarketing research, scaling Altitude1’s intelligence solutions, and continuing to mentor entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka and beyond.
But true to form, he is less focused on the future’s grandeur than on its impact. “If in ten years’ time, I can look back and know that I helped create opportunities—for clients, for employees, for students—that will be enough.”
Why His Story Matters
In a world often captivated by unicorn valuations and overnight successes, Sharanyan Sharma’s journey feels refreshingly different. It is not the story of shortcuts or hype, but of steady persistence, reinvention, and clarity of purpose.
From the quiet streets of Jaffna in the 1980s to international boardrooms today, Sharma has built not just companies, but a life philosophy—one where entrepreneurship is as much about meaning as it is about growth.
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