Startup Weekend winner set to simplify enrollment

CEBU, Philippines - How would you like to have the luxury of enrolling in school while enjoying the waters of Boracay or while doing some sightseeing in Hong Kong?

The idea of online enrollment is not new.  But although students in some big universities in Metro Manila already have access to online enrollment, majority still need to endure aching legs and rumbling tummies to survive long lines during assessment and payment period.

Most private schools may have websites.  However, many of them do not have the capability to handle online payments.  This is where Edroll comes in.  Composed of five 20-something idealistic individuals, the winning team of Startup Weekend Cebu 3rd edition is all set to change the enrollment landscape of schools in Cebu, and eventually, the Philippines and the world.

Startup Weekend is a 54-hour hackathon and pitching competition where would-be technopreneurs are given a chance to pitch their business ideas, form teams to build prototypes and come up with viable businesses particularly in the field of digital applications.

Kickstart Ventures, Inc. and its mother company Globe Telecom are both platinum sponsors of the event which was held at the University of San Carlos over the weekend.

Edroll envisions a time when choosing subjects and paying for tuition fees can be done at a click of a mouse or later on, via smartphones.  It initially targets colleges and universities as clients for the next semester although private elementary and high schools can, likewise, avail of the service.  For just a minimal fee, Edroll can provide a live site for schools within three months.

“We want to simplify things and make enrollment less time consuming.  We want to take away the pain of lining up during enrollment and avoid the risk of losing such hard-earned money.  We want to make it easy to the students by giving them a one-stop solution,” said Ian Bert Tusil, a 29-year old, 3rd year computer engineering drop out who leads the team composed of Patrick Villaruz, software engineer Daryl Yu, and marketing experts Ricky Hill and Nicky Buslon.

Edroll bested 12 other finalists, with Blood Match and At  Your Service, placing second and third, respectively.   Blood Match is an application that links patients with prospective donors while At Your Service provides a venue for small entrepreneurs and individuals to advertise their services for free or for a nominal fee.

“We want to inspire people to become entrepreneurs.  They must go out there, make mistakes, disregard the fear.  In short, just do it,” the Edroll team said.

Startup Weekend Cebu 3rd edition panel of judges was composed of Canadian serial entrepreneur Jean Patrick Bisson, Synacy software development company CEO Rhett Jones,  entrepreneur Bunny Pages, Orange and Bronze Software Labs co-founder and CEO Calen Martin Legaspi, and Cebu Business Month 2013 overall chairman Melanie Ng.  (FREEMAN)