High-impact tech startups get boost from INQBATION Startup Showcase 2019
There is no problem too difficult for a plucky startup with a
purpose.
Startups have gained increasing recognition for offering solutions
to problems, and startups in the Philippines are no exception. Tech startups
that are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning
capabilities are also gaining ground, with some setting their sights on
regional expansion even in the early years of their inception.
Kumu, a livestream and community platform, which only started last
year, has exhibited an explosive 2000% growth rate since it started. The app
has been downloaded almost one million times and is currently the only Filipino
company to be included in Google Play’s Top 10 grossing social apps. Roland
Ros, the company’s co-founder, shared that revenue has been exponentially
growing 300% quarter on quarter, as it has found a way to monetize global
Filipino millennial and Gen Z users. Hundreds of content creators are now
earning part time income on the app as well, with a growing base of full-time
creators earning as much as 50,000 pesos a month.
Senti, a data and sentiment analysis platform, started as a
one-man university research project that sought to better understand local
jargon and dialects. The company has since grown to become one of the most
highly-recognized AI and natural language processing companies in the
Philippines. Ralph Regalado’s brainchild is now home to half of the country’s
Google Developer experts and is helping to create high-value tech jobs in the
lucrative AI field in the Philippines. Senti has since expanded to Singapore and
Malaysia because of its success.
Another startup that has made a positive impact is Investagrams, a
social fintech platform which helps Filipinos invest in the stock market
through in-app tutorials, virtual trading, social networking, and other tools designed
to make investing in equities more accessible, easy and fun. Only three years
old, Investagrams now has over 360,000 users. Investagrams caters not only to
seasoned traders and investors but also to regular Filipinos, from millennials
to retirees, and even overseas workers seeking to increase the value of their
savings. The startup also regularly conducts programs on financial literacy and
equities investing that has attracted thousands of participants, with the goal
of increasing participation in the stock market among Filipinos (currently at
less than 1%) to at least 5% in the next five years. The fintech startup
founder and CEO John Christian Bisnar announced that the company is expanding
to Singapore.
Kumu, Senti, and Investagrams, along with 12 other startups, are
just some of the rising stars in the Filipino startup scene featured in
INQBATION Startup Showcase 2019.
“The INQBATION Startup Showcase draws attention to awesome
Filipino startups that are creating innovative and scalable solutions for real
world problems, and we hope that investors, corporations and partners across
the globe will take notice,” said Katrina Chan, Director of QBO. “The startups
we featured today grew with QBO and J.P. Morgan through the INQBATION program
and are creating tremendous impact. We’re glad to give them the spotlight they
deserve and invite more partners to join us in uplifting our burgeoning local
startup community.”
The event is organized by QBO Innovation Hub, a platform for the
startup community to collaborate, develop talent, and grow, that was created
through the joint effort of the Department of Science and Technology, the
Department of Trade and Industry, IdeaSpace, and J.P. Morgan.
“It was a privilege and a pleasure to help create
opportunities for these startups,” said Carlos Ma. G. Mendoza, Senior Country
Officer for J.P. Morgan Philippines. “We are proud to have supported this
program as it enabled small businesses and positively impacted underserved
communities.”
“The vision for this program is for QBO and J.P. Morgan, as well
as other partners, to open up more opportunities for startups and founders to
grow,” explained Rene “Butch” Meily, President of QBO. “We want to give people
who are creating scalable, positive impact through their startups a better shot
at success.”
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INQBATION Startup Showcase 2019, an
initiative championed by QBO Innovation Hub and J.P. Morgan, provides startups
with access to resources, mentorship, and network to help them scale up their
business. Photo shows from left
to right: INQBATION Startup Showcase Program Lead Ross Fallorina; Kumu
President Rexy Dorado; Washub head of Operations Brean Abrea; OneWatt Chief
Technology Officer Paolo Samontanez; Learntalk Managing Director Nicolo
Luccini; DTI-EMB Assistant Director Agnes Legaspi; Streetby CEO Rhey Minoza;
DOST- PCIEERD Senior Science Research Specialist
Engr. Edward Paul Apigo; MAD
Travel Co-founder Rafael Dionisio; DTI-EMB Director Senen Perlada; J.P. Morgan
Philippines Head of Communications Patricia Anne Javier-Gutierrez; QBO
President Rene “Butch” Meily; J.P.
Morgan Philippines Senior Country Officer Carlos Ma. G. Mendoza; QBO Director
Katrina Chan; Investagrams CEO JC Bisnar; Lexmeet CEO Atty. Marlon Valderama;
Exora COO Matt Tan; Payo CEO Liron Gross; Senti CEO Ralph Regalado; Container
Living Lead Innovator Mac Evangelista; Pushkart.ph CEO Joshua Aragon; and QBO
Head of Operations Natasha Bautista.
Meily added that by showcasing startups that have the potential to change lives as well as succeed as a business, they hope to get more companies and institutions to realize the value of supporting local startup ecosystem.
Aside from the startups mentioned, the showcase also featured
AdMov, Cropital, Pushkart.ph, Exora, Learntalk, OneWatt, Payo, Lexmeet,
Streetby, Washub, Container Living, and MAD Travel.
QBO said that it will continue to support startups in different
ways including INQBATION, an acceleration program where the country’s most
promising but underserved startup founders receive mentorship, training,
exposure, resources and other support tailor fit to their needs. The INQBATION
program was created in order to help highly promising Filipino tech startup
companies scale up, fundraise and become globally competitive-- in the process
generating jobs, developing the technology sector and creating impact.
QBO envisions more organizations becoming more involved with
Filipino startup companies— whether as mentors, investors, or customers—and
being able to help more local startups attain success.
For more information about the INQBATION Startup Showcase 2019,
visit https://www.qbo.com.ph/incubation/.
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