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EVENTS
Philippines: Business First
Ambassador Joseph Del Mar Yap together with the speakers (L-R : Ron Hose, Joan Yao, Usec.
Aldaba, Katrina Chan), Trade Counsellor Maria Cynthia Ricafort and QBO Program Lead
Incubation Rosstyn Fallorina
Innovfest Unbound 2019
All year round a slew of events keep
the conversation on business, trade and
entrepreneurship between the Philippines
and Singapore, vibrant and exciting—adding
to the healthy atmosphere of exchange on
matters both global and domestic.
Held at Sands Expo and Convention
Centre, Singapore from 27-28 June 2019.
Innovfest Unbound 2019, the annual event
of Smart Nation Innovations resonated
with edgy interactions on one of the most
important business platforms - Start-ups.
The Department of Trade and Industry
Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba and
executives of Filipino Start-up enterprises
shared their views on the Philippine Start-
up Ecosystem during the conference. The
Filipino Start-up executives included Ms. Joan
Yao, Vice President of Kick Start Ventures, Ms.
Katrina Chan, Director of QBO, and Mr. Ron
Hose, Founder and CEO of Coins.
According to Undersecretary Aldaba the
Philippine Start-up ecosystem is relatively
young but is full of potential and embedded
capabilities. The start-ups, which are currently
in the activation phase, comprise financial
technology, enterprise solutions developers,
artificial intelligence and machine learning
companies. Usec. Aldaba cited low access to
capital requirements, low early stage funding
and regulatory requirements as some of the
8 Partner Philippines 2019
challenges encountered by start-ups in their
thrust to globalize. Â Currently, the Philippines and complete outsourced services), (4)
has at least 500 startups having a combined
worth of US$378 million.
The Department of Information and
Communications Technology, Department of
Science and Technology, and the Department
of Trade and Industry have a joint program
called Start-up Pilipinas (formerly Start-up
Ecosystem Development). The program
supports startups by providing opportunities
to participate in outbound business missions
and international pitching competitions. In
addition, a facility called the QBO Innovation
Hub Project (a public private partnership
of DTI, DOST, IdeaSpace and J.P.Morgan)
provides an incubation hub for Start-ups to
learn, develop, modify and scale up their
business models.
Philippine IT Companies and
Start-ups Open Conversations at
ConnecTech Asia 2019
ConnecTechAsia 2019 was held at Sands
Expo and Convention Centre on 18-20
June 2019. The annual trade exhibition on
blockchain, artificial intelligence, Internet
of Things and smart data analytics, saw
the presence of 12 technology companies
from the Philippines, which is becoming
increasingly active in this field
The Philippine delegation included (1)
Advance World Solutions, Inc (leading
offshore BPO/ITO company), (2) Bluebean,
Inc. (outsourced business process services),
(3) Celo Business Solutions (provide quality
DynaQuest Technology Services Inc.(solution
provider of blockchain for businesses),
(5) Elite Innovations (innovative solutionsÂ
focusing on IoT and data analytics), (6)
Exora Technologies (specialized energy
procurement and energy analytics platform),
(7) HYBrain Development Corporation
(software development company), (8) In1Go
Technologies Inc. (IT/BPO consulting and
project management), (9) LexMeet (online
legal consultation platform), (10) Magellan
Solutions (BPO company with 1000-seats
call centre), (11) myBoss (back office shared
services provider), and (12) Senti Techlabs
(specializes in developing AI solutions).
Leading the delegation was former
Department of Communications and
Information Technology (DICT) Usec.
Monchito Ibrahim and DICT Director Emmy
Lou V. Delfin. The delegation was met by
Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Joseph
Del Mar Yap. DICT is the lead Philippine
government agency that assists Filipino IT,
infotech business processing management
companies, enterprises and start-ups
participate in key regional conferences