Top Southeast Asia startups to compete at Philippines' biggest tech summit

MANILA, Philippines (As released) — History is about to be made yet again at the Ring of Fire Pitching Competition, set to be staged at Techtonic Summit 2018, the largest tech conference in the Philippines.

Each startup will need to sell business ideas to a panel of judges mostly chosen from venture capital firms across Asia for a chance to win exclusive mentorship and $10,000, equity-free.

Techtonic Summit 2018 is a two-day convergence of ideas, technology and innovation, bringing together all the movers and shakers across the region. This year's theme is "Disrupting Southeast Asia."

At this event, participants can find startups, investors, corporates, the academe, media, and government—all the biggest players in the Asian startup ecosystem from June 22 to 23 at the SMX Convention Center.

Among such names are Sens. Loren Legarda and Bam Aquino, Golden Gate Ventures' managing partner Jeffrey Paine, Facebook Philippines country manager John Rubio, mobile C2C marketplace Carousell co-founder and president Marcus Tan, and Zalora Philippines managing director Constantin Robertz.

A competition organized by QBO Innovation Hub, Ring of Fire is one of the most exciting segments of Techtonic Summit, which includes heated debates, explosive speakers, and disruptive topics.

It gathers 20 startups with the most earth-shattering ideas to the stage in a battle of pitches. But more than just an opportunity for exclusive business opportunities and cash prizes, Ring of Fire is going to be an exposé of some of the top technologies and market opportunities in Southeast Asia.
    
The top 20 startups are composed of businesses of interest to the Southeast Asian market, looking to expand their market outside of the Philippines, and foreign startups looking to expand to the Philippines. They are:

The chosen startups reaching the finals can be considered winners after having gone through a rigorous evaluation process. They also automatically become startup exhibitors and get premier booth areas, exposure to investors, media and potential partners, as well as VIP access to all closed-door events including an exclusive "business matching" program and investors' dinner. But the grand winner gets to go home with the equity-free $10,000.  

1. AdMov (Philippines)
2. AIDE (Philippines)
3. Antipara Exploration (Philippines)
4. Bliimo (Philippines)
5. Brankas (Philippines, Indonesia)
6. Cognicept (Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam)
7. Edukasyon.ph (Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore)
8. Empleo (Philippines)
9. Exora Technologies (Philippines)
10. Learntalk Ltd. (Philippines)
11. LexMeet Inc. (Philippines)
12. Lifemesh (Philippines)
13. MamaHelpers Technologies (Philippines, China, Hong Kong)
14. OneWatt (Philippines)
15. Payo (Philippines)
16. Pushkart.ph (Philippines)
17. Rumarocket Limited Incorporated (Philippines)
18. Senti TechLabsInc. (Philippines)
19. STORM LearningInc. (Philippines)
20. Taxumo (Philippines)

Last year's pitching competition winner Audrey Tanco Uy, CEO and founder of Serve Happy, had something to share about the previous match.

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"Pitching at Techtonic was an exhilarating experience, but nothing was more thrilling than when we found out we had won. It was really a pivotal moment that validated the impact and relevance of our startup," Uy said. "We're really looking forward to seeing what new ideas are out there at this year's summit."

This year's event is organized by PMCM Events Management, Original Pitch Venture Capital, QBO Innovation Hub, XS by XS, and LiquidMinds. Last year, Techtonic made history as the biggest tech summit in the Philippines with over 6,000 attendees. Techtonic Summit 2018 has already smashed that record with an estimate of 10,000 attendees, 200 startups, and 100 investors.

Rene "Butch" Meily, president of QBO Innovation Hub, also said the summit can only get "bigger and better from here."

"Techtonic Summit is really a testament to how far the Philippines has come in terms of growing the local startup ecosystem," Meily said.

The Ring of Fire main pitching competition will take place on June 23, 2018 in the SMX Convention Center Manila as part of the official program. But the Techtonic Summit itself will happen from June 22 to 23.

If you want to be more than just a witness to history, registration is free and open to the public. Interested parties may get in touch with the team via the details below:

Website: www.techtonicsummit.com
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: (+63) 917 834 4978
Landline: (02) 501 0029

The press conference was sponsored by Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria.