Wazzup Pilipinas!
Manila played host to the first
ever Bootstrap Manila 2016, A Startup and Innovation Conference,
held last October 22, 2016 at Green Sun Hotel, Makati. Organized by two of the country’s leading
coworking spaces and incubator/accelerator hubs - Impact Hub Manila and Launchgarage, the one-day conference
boasted an exciting lineup of speakers from the ecosystems of Berlin,
Bangalore, Jakarta, and Manila.
ROADSHOW FOR AN INTERCONNECTED INTERNATIONAL ECOSYSTEM
Bootstrap Manila is part of the StartHubs AsiaBerlin Roadshow that runs from October 18-27, 2016, with Bangalore as the
first stop, followed by Manila, then Jakarta.
StartHubs AsiaBerlin is a project within the Asia-Pacific Weeks 2016
initiated by the Berlin Ministry of
Economic Affairs in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
It seeks to shed light on the four important startup hubs and build an
open platform for interconnectivity, networking, direct communication and
cooperation, and collaboration among the partner cities. It is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ).
Delegates kicked off the Manila
leg of the roadshow with a tour of the world-class MANILA
FAME, Design and Lifestyle Event, at the World Trade Center, and an
al fresco dinner at Nayong Pilipino’s Orchidarium at Rizal Park, Manila on
October 21. Both activities were hosted
by the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Slingshot
Philippines, a program that aims to nurture and grow the local
ecosystem through capacity building, funding, and policy support for
startups. In his welcome remarks, Senen Perlada, DTI’s Export Marketing Bureau Director, recognized the importance
of startups saying, “Creativity and innovation are the currency of today.”
Impact Hub Manila’s Co-Founder LizAn
Kuster and Launchgarage’s Jay
Fajardo formally opened the whole day conference on October 22. Fresh from the Bangalore leg of the roadshow,
Fajardo gave the audience an overview of what to expect during the day-long
event, while Kuster delivered an insightful introduction on what it means to
bootstrap as an entrepreneur.
“Bootstrapping is more than just building your solutions without
external fundings, it means growing your enterprise with people and
connections. Thus StartHubs AsiaBerlin is extremly valuable for our ecosystem,”
Kuster states.
Rainer Seider, Head
of the International Unit for Cooperation of the Berlin Ministry for Economic
Affairs, gave the keynote address.
He described Berlin’s diverse and vibrant ecosystem, and outlined the
goals and plans of StartHubs AsiaBerlin
to create a “single intercontinental startup ecosystem through structured
channels, such as a online platform which will launch soon and everyone can
join” despite each city’s different intricacies.
Seider was joined by other
members of the keynote panel - Deepash
Agarwal of MoveInSync from Bangalore; Fajar Anujerah from Bali Recycling; Ces
Rondario, Impact Hub Manila Co-Founder; and Jay Fajardo. Moderated by
Kuster, the panelists shared the characteristics, strengths, challenges, and
opportunities of their respective ecosystems.
Agarwal shared Bangalore’s
mutually beneficial partnership and coordination with the government, thanks to
the latter’s recognition of the success and contribution of the BPO/IT
industry. Bangalore is considered India’s
tech capital, and enjoyed the most startup funding in 2014.
Jakarta, Indonesia’s largest
city, on the other hand, enjoys a fast growing economy that affords plenty of
opportunities for new enterprises and entrepreneurs. Anujerah revealed how the megacity is quickly
becoming home to a number of tech startups and attracting more Indonesian
investors.
On the Philippine startup
community, Rondario described it as a “good base for social
entrepreneurship.” Fajardo, on the other
hand, recognized the exemplary skill of Filipino engineers, but acknowledged
the need to improve the quality of local mid- to high-level management talent
familiar with the workings of the startup scene.
INNOVATORS AND DISRUPTORS SHAPING UP THE ECOSYSTEMS
Bootstrap Manila 2016 was marked
by highly interesting and informative talks by movers and shakers from each
ecosystem.
Following the keynote panel was Geraldine de Bastion, Founder of Global
Innovation Gathering (GIG), a network of grassroots innovators, social
entrepreneurs, founders, makers, and hackers.
Speaking about Innovation in the
Global South, she showed examples of innovative and creative ideas and
solutions from GIG’s network.
Yathan Blumenthal, Founder and Accelerator Chief of Hardware Co., gave
a talk on Accelerating Business,
Methodologies, and Co-Working, based on first-hand credible experience and
the successful Berlin-based co-working hub, Betahaus.
The winners of Impact Hub Fellowship on Sustainable Energy Solutions with PEF, WWF and ADB, namely SolarSolutions, HiGi and CleverHeat were also given a few minutes to pitch their startups.
The afternoon session continued
with talks from Filipino speakers starting off with Luis Buenaventura of Bloom Solutions and a cryptocurrency and
fintech expert, who spoke about blockchains and how the Philippines is starting
to use it in OFW remittances.
Also on the lineup was Paula Schwarz, Founder of Startupboat, who
gave a personal account of how her growing up years in a Greek island
contributed to her work with migrant refugees landing in their shores. Startupboat leads a program for workplace and
community integration for refugees.
The final speakers for the day
were leading Filipino entrepreneurs and innovators - self-confessed
“entreprenerd” Ibba Rasul-Bernardo, who
showed the audience how DSCVR, an app that creates 360 VR stories work; and Manny Ayala, Managing Director of Endeavor
Philippines, a global non-profit, who gave an information-laden and
inspiring talk about high impact entrepreneurship.
Chosen fellows of the
recently-awarded Impact
Hub Fellowship on Sustainable Energy Solutions, done in partnership
with the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF) - Philippines and Peace and Equity Foundation, and supported by
the Asian Development
Bank - Cleverheat, HiGi, and Solar Sari-Sari Store, were also given the chance to the present their winning ideas to
the international delegation.
The conference ended on a high
note, and a “groufie” with Seider extending an invitation to the next
AsiaPacific Weeks in 2017 and the succeeding roadshow among the four
ecosystems.
StartHubs network partners are in
Jakarta: PLUS -
platform usaha sosial; and Bangalore: AHK Indo German.
Bootstrap Manila 2016 is supported by Slingshot Philippines, Converge Pure Fiber Internet, Proudcloud, Nayong Pilipino, UHop, and Signature Ads.