10 tech startups win IdeaSpace 2014 competition

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine-based incubator and accelerator IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc. (IdeaSpace) has selected 10 tech startups in its yearly competition for early-stage funding worth at least P1 million each, consisting of seed investment, training and services.

The 10 winners of the Ideaspace 2014 tech startup contest are: BluLemons (Dasmariñas, Cavite) – A Filipino-themed mobile gaming studio; FlipTrip.ph (Taguig) – Online Philippine travel platform for itinerary customization and booking; MyChild (Quezon City) – An online and mobile platform for parents and schools to work together to make a child succeed; Nyfti (Manila) – A 3-fold bicycle that you can take anywhere; R-TAP (Quezon City) – Real-time pump controller for efficient water distribution; SALt (Lipa City) – Sustainable alternative lighting solutions powered by water and table salt; Tactiles (Laguna) – Hardware kit for basic electronics education; Tambio (Manila/ Quezon City) – All raffles in one app; SmartFleet (Makati/ Caloocan/ Paranaque) – Technology platform enabling transport fleets with operations automation, booking and analytics solutions; WattSmart (Pasig/ Quezon City) – Online energy audit solution to help monitor electricity use in real time.

“This year’s winners represent a wide variety of tech solutions for emerging markets. The potential is not just local but global and IdeaSpace is here to support these young innovators who took the risk and accepted the challenge,” said Manuel V. Pangilinan, IdeaSpace chairman.

Aside from the funding and business support, the winners will also be provided with office space in Makati City as well as housing for non-Manila residents.

IdeaSpace will also link these startups to companies supporting the foundation for market runway.

Startups which successfully complete the acceleration program based on business metrics will be eligible to further avail of additional follow-through funding worth up to P5 million.

Judges for the final round include Pangilinan, also First Pacific group chairman, Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. president and Smart Communications, Inc. chief wireless advisor Orlando Vea, First Pacific Company executive director Edward Tortorici, Maynilad Water Services Inc. president Ricky Vargas, director general of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines Ricardo Blancaflor, and managing director of Silicon Valley-based ICCP Venture Partners Edwin Lau.

This is the second year that IdeaSpace is awarding innovative tech startups under its incubation and accelerator program. Last year’s batch of 10 included up-and-coming startups such as bus reservation app Pinoy Travel, enterprise queuing solution Time Free, knee implants for Asian market company Arthrologic, job site for creatives PortfolioMNL and consumer rewards platform MobKard.

A total of 24 startups are currently being supported by IdeaSpace, including winners from last year and this year, and those who received support outside the yearly startup competition.

The winners are from the 17 finalists that bested more than 600 entries, three rounds of rigorous judging and a two-month intensive incubation program where they received an initial grant worth P100,000, including P50,000 outright cash grant to work on their minimum viable product.

During this period, they were also mentored and trained to hone their entrepreneurial skills on top of getting assistance for business incorporation and intellectual property filing support.

During the announcement, Pangilinan also commended the rest of the finalists and cited the market need for the innovations.

He announced that IdeaSpace is committing to provide variable support to the seven teams based on further evaluation.

“We congratulate the Top 10 IdeaSpace startups that made the cut for 2014. But we will continue to support those that were not able to make it, because it’s important that we continue helping these startups providing critical innovation that our country needs,” Pangilinan added.

The other finalists were: CholesteLOW (Davao) – natural anti-cholesterol rice that lowers blood cholesterol to keep the heart healthy; iHarvest (Las Piñas) – the next generation paddy grain dryer powered by solar energy; iTravelPH (Batangas) – A GPS-based mobile solution that provides transit routes for smart traveling and commuting; SupplyHub (Makati/ Muntinlupa/ Quezon City) – online business-to-business platform that connects buyers with suppliers nationwide; Taxinoy (Makati) – Taxi booking app with zero data charges; ToGocery (Muntinlupa/ Quezon City) – An intuitive mobile solution for quicker and simpler grocery shopping; Unlock & Load (Makati) – mobile advertising platform.

With half a billion pesos in funding over five years and support from industry leaders, IdeaSpace is the largest private-sector commitment for technology entrepreneurship based in the Philippines. IdeaSpace is supported by the following companies: First Pacific, First Pacific Leadership Academy, Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., MPIC hospital group, PLDT, Meralco, Smart Communications, Digitel Mobile Philippines and its mobile brand Sun Cellular, SPI Global, ePLDT, Indofood, Philex Mining, Maynilad, MediaQuest, and TV5.

To know more about IdeaSpace, visit www.ideaspacefoundation.org<http://www.ideaspacefoundation.org/>