CEBU, Philippines - Ten early-stage startups backed by IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc. (IdeaSpace), the largest tech startup incubator in the Philippines, recently completed their six-month incubation period that culminated in a Venture Capital and Demo Day at the Asian Institute of Management.
During the Demo Day, the ten teams showcased the products of a half year of intensive training, rigorous mentorship, and thorough business development that gave birth to ten innovative technology solutions addressing some of the Philippines’ pressing issues in the areas of transportation, agriculture, energy, healthcare, and innovation, among others.
The IdeaSpace Demo Day was part of the activities for Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013, a week-long celebration aiming to promote entrepreneurship and was observed in more than 150 countries worldwide.
The startups’ presentations were witnessed by a number of global and local venture capitalists, investors and business leaders, including Derek Wong, a former digital health investor from Burill and Company in San Francisco, USA; Yasu Seo, regional manager IMJ Fenox in Indonesia; Joan Yao investment manager for Southeast Asia of LGT Venture Philanthropy; and Jojo Flores, vice president for operations, plug and Play Tech Center in California.
The ten pioneering startups that “graduated†from the IdeaSpace incubation program include:
Aqua Powered Solutions — Low-cost Water Purification Machine using nano technology.
Arthrologic — Knee-Joints focused on the Asian Market.
DateCola — natural-enriched beverage out of dates.
PortfolioMNL — Job Site for Creative Professionals.
PGRS — Power Generating Rumble Strips.
PinoyTravel — provincial bus reservation system.
MobKard — Mobile promos on the go using analytics.
Tech4Health — Monitoring chronic patients via SMS and Apps.
TimeFree — Virtual queuing system for retail and financial services.
WeGen — New more efficient windmill design.
Under the IdeaSpace program, the 10 winners received an initial funding of P500,000 on top of more than P1 million worth of services and training under a rigorous six-month business incubation program. They were also recipients of business mentoring, office space, and housing for non-Metro Manila participants.
Now that the 10 winners have completed the business incubation period, IdeaSpace will determine which startups will receive up to P5 million in additional funding based on how the teams accomplished their respective objectives. (FREEMAN)