If you have an idea that could turn into a technology innovation which could impact the society and has global potential, you have until January 15, 2015 to join this year’s IdeaSpace Startup Competition by submitting it via apply.ideaspacefoundation.org.
Now on its third year, IdeaSpace Foundation, the largest incubator fund for science and technology startups, has set its sights on going global with the upcoming ASEAN economic integration envisioned to provide local startups and innovators the chance to showcase their competitiveness, create new market opportunities and expand outside the Philippines.
“The world has seen how the Southeast Asian region is becoming one of the most important startup hubs in the world, and the Philippines is well-positioned to become the region’s innovation bright spot in the years to come,” said Earl Martin Valencia, President and Co-Founder at IdeaSpace. “Our startups have the talent, the skills, and now the resources to make it big regionally and globally.”
IdeaSpace Associate Director for Community Development Goldy Chu Yancha gives a recap of the highlights of IdeaSpace’s efforts for the local startup community in 2014.
One of IdeaSpace’s executive team members, Marthyn Cuan, said that “we welcome the ASEAN integration as this can open more opportunities for startups and we’re working our plans to expand outside the Philippines.”
For this year’s startup competition, an increasing awareness and interest from startups around the world has been observed when IdeaSpace received 15 international applications coming from Singapore, Malaysia, US, Brazil, Mexico, England, Hungary, UK, and India, among others.
Diane Eustaquio, IdeaSpace’s Executive Director, said that applications are not necessarily related to telcos. It is a multi-industry startup competition.
During the competition, a series of judging rounds determine the Top 20 startups.
After three rounds of judging, the Top 20 startups will officially enter IdeaSpace’s six-week incubation phase. Each of these startups will receive a P50,000-grant for prototype development, presentation materials, and customer validation, among others.
When the incubation phase is completed, the IdeaSpace Board of Trustees will select the Top 10 startups that will enter the acceleration stage, an intensive 18-week program that will help each startup develop their products, set up their corporation and business permits, and conduct market validation, among others.
Startups that successfully enter the acceleration phase will each get P500,000 in seed funding, plus a separate grant worth at least another P500,000 inclusive of business management classes, marketing and financial consulting, intellectual property consulting and incorporation, office space, and business registration costs, among others.
Meanwhile, some of the startups that IdeaSpace had invested in over the years are making their presence felt in the region as well as in the world market.
First on the list is the TimeFree Innovations, a virtual queuing solution startup, which has successfully deployed its application in other countries, most recently in Malaysia. Another IdeaSpace-backed startup, Tudlo, a provider of mobile tools for disaster preparedness and mitigation, has recently been invited to the Future Innovators Summit in Austria.
The locally-produced SALt (Sustainable Alternative Lighting), which developed a saltwater-powered lamp and mobile charger, emerged as the only Asian startup to place in the Top Five out of participants from 50 countries in the recently-held World Startup Competition.
“These startups have proven that Philippine innovations, when combined with the grit and mettle of the founders behind them, can make it big in the world stage,” Valencia stressed. “This has been the vision of IdeaSpace from the very beginning.”
With P500-million funding over five years, IdeaSpace is supported by First Pacific Leadership Academy, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), MPIC Hospital Group, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Meralco, Smart Communications, Inc., Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc., and its mobile brand Sun Cellular, SPI Global, ePLDT, Indofeed, Philex Mining, Maynilad, MediaQuest, and TV5.
