It’s the time of the year again when technology incubator IdeaSpace Foundation announces a new batch of startups to join their acceleration program and receive equity-free funding.
From the 600 applicants from all over the country, IdeaSpace is now in Round 3 and they presented the 10 startups who will join the next level mentorship, funding, and host of other prizes.
Diane Eustaquio, Executive Director at IdeaSpace
“We’re quite proud of this year’s batch of IdeaSpace startups. They’re a testament to how the Philippine startup ecosystem is maturing, where founders now see a cleaner path from their ideas to executing them in the real world and bringing their products to customers. We are glad to support Filipino startup entrepreneurs as they begin to make a dent in helping the growth of the Philippines,” said Diane Eustaquio, Executive Director at IdeaSpace.
Six weeks incubation
The ten startups came from a pool of twenty (20) finalists that were trimmed down to 15 on finals night. Prior to making it to the acceleration phase, the finalists underwent six weeks of incubation where they validated their initial ideas, learned the ropes of establishing and running a business, and developed prototypes for their startups, on top of receiving P50,000 initial grant.
The 2016 batch of startups gathers one of the most diverse groups yet, with a team coming from various backgrounds and business maturity levels. A number of startup teams came from the corporate world to pursue their ideas, while of them has been nurturing their startup idea since they were in college. Several are already in their “revenue” stage, which means they are already earning money from their startup business.
IdeaSpace Intrapreneur Acceleration Program (IAP)
This year the foundation also piloted Intrapreneur Acceleration Program (IAP), which allowed internal product development teams from companies in the First Pacific group to pitch their ideas and undergo the rigors of incubation and acceleration under IdeaSpace.
Four teams from Voyager, PayMaya, Meralco and Maynilad made it to the inaugural IAP this year.
They also received same seed fund, training, mentorship and other non-cash benefits that IdeaSpace startups have enjoyed in the past.
The 2016 batch
Populi. An analytics platform that uses big data for politicians to visualize public pulse in real time.
Investagrams. A website and app that provide education and analytic tools about everything you need about the stock market.
Cleaning Lady. A mobile app that lets user book a cleaning services.
InvestED. A microfinancing platform for student loans.
Banyera. An onine marketplace for wholesale famred fish products.
Tarkie. A field employee tracking and productivity tool.
Taxumo. A mobile and web app for SMEs, professional, freelancers and companies to help about their taxes.
EARS. A wearable device for deaf/hearing-impaired.
Tralulu. A digital platform that connects a traveler to a local guide.
Cropital. A crowdfunding platform that connects anyone to help finance farmers.
The then new startups will join IdeaSpace’s growing portfolio of 38 startups over the last four years as part of its half a billion-peso funding that was started in 2012.
