Digital Reporter
Robert A. Vergara Jr.
Aside from disrupting the traditional business landscape, startups are also seen to contribute solutions to pressing global issues.
With Southeast Asia being home to hundreds of thousands of new tech‑related enterprises, innovative ways to promote disaster resiliency and recovery may emerge from the region.
With this premise, QBO Innovation Hub (QBO), the public‑private initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology, business incubator IdeaSpace, and multinational banking and financial service company J. P. Morgan that supports local startups, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) selected 20 startups from Southeast Asia to utilize their products, services, and business models in introducing new ways to address global issues, including environmental disasters, outbreaks or pandemics, and conflicts and violence.
The selected startups will compete at “Startups to the Resque” pitch competition that will be held during DTI’s annual Slingshot ASEAN 2017 on Oct. 20 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
According to QBO President Rene Meily, the competition is a way to tap young innovators to introduce new ways to solve “daunting issues that we face every day.”
“We are one of the most disaster‑prone countries in the world and all of these things have an effect on us, [so] we need innovative companies to come to our rescue and provide solutions to these issues,” he said in a press conference on Oct. 11. “And our solution is to rely on the youth” he added.
With the competition, Floradema Eleazar, program manager of UNDP’s Inclusive and Sustainable Unit, said they “hope to see ideas that can be explored and developed into concrete solutions” to reduce the risks brought by calamities and increase the resilience of communities around the region.
“Climate and disaster risks are real threats to people and development—and we have seen this repeatedly in the last decade not just in the Philippines but across ASEAN. Risk and climate‑informed development planning is now taking center stage and rightly so,” Ms. Eleazar said.
Out of more than 130 applicants, sixteen of the 20 startups come from the Philippines‑some of them already profiled on SparkUp. Here is the complete list:
PHILIPPINES
Crowdfunding platform that matches investors with farmers and allows them to share profit.
First chatbot development agency in the Philippines. Creates, trains, and maintains chatbots for businesses.
- SkyEye Analytics, Inc.
Procures, processes, and analyzes data for clients in both public and private sectors.
- Gavagives
A fundraising platform for non‑profit organizations.
- LifeMesh
Connects humanitarian aid organizations to communities in need using blockchain technology.
- Ascendent Technologies, Inc.
Software development startup for medium-sized businesses, especially those in healthcare digital systems management.
- Senti
A social media analytics company specializing in understanding Filipino culture.
- Tralulu
Platform that connects travelers with guides and locals.
First styling and clothing subscription box in the Philippines.
- ServeHappy Jobs
Job marketplace for food services professionals.
- Pushkart.ph
Online grocery delivery service provider.
- UPROOT Aquaponics
Uses aquaponics to provide marginalized communities with access to healthy food and auxiliary income.
- Blogapalooza
Connects businesses to bloggers for public relations contents.
- Haraya Labs
Provides STEM education to K-12 students using virtual reality platform.
- Frontlearners, Inc.
E‑learning content developer and e‑school solution provider.
- GO GRIDLESS PHILIPPINES CORP.
B2B wholesaler of off-grid technology solutions.
THAILAND
- After Effect
Thailand‑based startup that develops artificial intelligence‑related products, mostly chatbots, to businesses.
INDONESIA
- Timba
Social enterprise that produces products using waste materials.
SINGAPORE
- Billion Bricks
Non‑profit design and technology studio that develops new shelter solutions for homeless families and poor communities.
MALAYSIA
- Unomap
A digital identity solution that digitizes individual identities into a decentralized, user‑managed‑centric model.
“We weren’t just looking for startups that are already working on disaster’s phase so to speak, but really any startup that had an idea about how they can make the world better,” QBO Director Katrina Chan said, adding that they selected startups from different industries to see different perspectives in addressing global issues.
The competing startups will be judged based on their ability to execute their ideas, relevance to the theme, and feasibility. Judges include representatives from QBO, UNDP, and PDRF, who will all be announced during the actual competition.
From 20, only six will be chosen to pitch their ideas on stage and three will be declared as winners.
First prize winner will receive equity‑free seed money worth $10,000 and a chance to work with UNDP and PDRF. Second and third prize winners will get $4,000 and $2,000, respectively.
