Tech competition for women returns to the Philippines

She Loves Tech, a competition for women and technology is returning to the Philippines through its partnership with QBO Innovation Hub.

Scheduled for October, the global competition—and accompanying conference—has expanded its reach over the last five years. Alumni startups have gone on to raise over US$100 million in aggregate funding from some of the world’s top investors, including Sequoia Capital, Vertex Ventures, Wavemaker, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Due to the pandemic, the sixth edition of the competition will be held virtually in over 30 countries across North and South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. “One of the things we’re most excited about is that going fully online gives us a great opportunity to reach a wider audience and help even more entrepreneurs than we ever could have,” says Rhea See, co-founder of She Loves Tech.

Winning the local edition of She Loves Tech in 2019 inspired Vesl, a platform for SMEs that provides per invoice-based insurance, “to keep aiming for scalable impact,” said Maureen Nova Ledesma, Vesl’s co-founder.

The winner of the local round will get to pitch their idea on a global stage. The global winner will receive an equity-free cash prize of $15,000 from She Loves Tech affiliate fund, Teja Ventures; media and mentorship prizes; fast-track access to partner funds and accelerator programs; and in-house advisory services.

“QBO has been growing our efforts to develop the participation of female founders in the tech startup ecosystem… and She Loves Tech has been a key partner,” said Katrina Rausa Chan, director of QBO Innovation Hub. “I’m looking forward to what this year’s participants will bring to the now-virtual stage.”

Applications will be accepted until Sept. 4 at www.shelovestech.org .