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By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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ILOILO City – “Everything starts with passion and focus,” shared Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog during the opening ceremony of this year’s Startup Weekend Iloilo on July 21, aiming to build a community of innovators in the region.
Now on its third year, Startup Weekend Iloilo has brought its unique platform of competitive innovation to aspiring young Ilonggo entrepreneurs once again, held from July 21 to 23 at the West Visayas State University campus.
Focusing on enterprises for the 2017 edition, the venture partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 6 to devise solutions to problems faced by local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and potentially introduce automation to the emerging businesses.
An immersive and high-pressure 3-day “concept to company” workshop, Startup Weekend engrossed its participants in 54 hours of brainstorming, team building and strategizing, as well as insightful pitch sessions with a discerning panel of mentors at the helm.
“For the past 2 years, participating teams experienced the highs, lows, fun, and pressure that make up life at a startup,” shared the organizers of the event. “[We aim] that after Startup Weekend Iloilo, winning teams and the enterprises/community, with the support of the Iloilo City government, will work together to make the solutions a reality!”
This year’s coaches and mentors who offered their input to participants included mayor Mabilog; Andreas Galster, head of Engineering at ScoutedBy and Founder of Product PH & Product Café; Atty. Christine Florete, vice president for Legal Affairs of the F&C Group and associate attorney at Sombiro and Buyco-Abellar Law; and Marlo Arturo Ga, cofounder of Airnav Technology Services Inc., an engineering company based in Iloilo and with partners in Europe and USA; among others.
BlueJobs – a platform aiming to create a market for blue-collared jobs and laborers, as well as foster sustainable and interconnected communities – won the top prize. Meanwhile, potential startup projects Himali and Teach Me came in at 1st and 2nd runner-up respectively.
Among the judges were DTI-6 director Rebecca Rascon, MavenTech Solutions, Inc. CEO Yen de Felipe, College of Information and Communication Technology – WVSU dean Dr. Joel de Castro, and IBC International Builders Corporation vice president for administration Allen Son Tan, with a slate of other capable juries respected in their field.
Gov’t support for startups
During the ASEAN Dialogues Business Beyond Borders on July 11, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Startup Ecosystem Development Program Policy Consultant and Program director Kristine Alcantara noted that the government is supportive to the growth of startup communities.
Moreover, she noted the government is pushing for five-point action agenda that will promote the growth of the startup ecosystem.
The five-point agenda are closer collaboration between government and industry, addressing legal and regulatory barriers, bolstering government support through services and access to capital and resources, strengthening existing institutions that support the startup ecosystem, and establishing a Philippine innovation economic zone.
Alcantara said the government will roll out next year the startup ecosystem development plan as Startup Pilipinas.
Startup Weekend Iloilo is part of a global organization Techstars, which provides assistance to new and upcoming startups around the world. It has been held 2900 times in over 150 countries./PN
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