KodeGo, a startup under Globe’s corporate venture builder, 917Ventures, secured SG$30,000 and landed a spot in the top six finalists of the recently concluded 2021 Singtel Group Future Makers Program.
Singtel Group Future Makers, Singtel’s regional social innovation and capacity building program aims to support promising social impact start-ups with innovative technology solutions that help address social and healthcare challenges faced by the vulnerable in society. This year, the program sought to identify high potential start-ups with the ability to foster shared value opportunities with regional partners to create impactful social and business solutions for people and the markets that the Singtel Group operates in.
Among the four organizations nominated by Globe, KodeGo gained the highest recognition, cited for its high-impact and highly-scalable innovation, its potential to address unemployment effectively and upskilling challenges in other countries.
“Our mission, as a company, has always been to raise the caliber of Filipino software engineers and address unemployment gaps in the country. This recognition from the Singtel Group and our leaders from Globe is only the beginning for us, as we venture into scaling our business and touch more lives with our digital solutions,” said Francis Simisim, Head of Ideation & Incubation of 917Ventures, Entrepreneur-in-Residence for KodeGo.
Simisim shared that they have a long-term goal of helping solve the talent shortage in the tech industry through their training and placement interventions. In the next two years, they are targeting to generate 27,000 program graduates.
Through KodeGo’s offerings and services, graduates can secure higher-paying jobs in the tech industry. According to the company’s tracking, participants of the KodeGo Bootcamp showed a 93% job placement success rate, within two weeks after completion.
“We are proud of KodeGo’s achievement and are happy that we can play a part in their journey, as they further develop and build their company. We will continue to support them, along with our other social ventures as we drive innovation through Globe’s wide network of services and solutions,” said Yoly C. Crisanto, Globe Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President for Corporate Communications.
This year, a total of 20 alumni impact start-ups participated in Singtel Group’s Future Makers program with the hopes of regional expansion and collaboration to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as UN SDG No. 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), UN SDG No. 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and UN SDG No. 10 (Reduce Inequalities).
The program supports social innovators through financial, technical, and marketing assistance to scale up their projects. Likewise, Singtel Group Future Makers provides them with capacity-building support, such as coaching and structured workshops, which can help sharpen their value proposition, and pitching capabilities.
“We are excited to see how KodeGo will grow over the coming months and year. As our newest portfolio company, we know that this recognition will only motivate us and our teams in ushering our customers into further digital transformation,” shared 917Ventures Managing Director Vince Yamat.
KodeGo, together with EdVenture, BentaTV, and Inon, represented the Philippines in the competition after a rigorous selection process through the Globe Future Makers (GFM) program. Similar to the regional program, GFM aims to help build an ecosystem of support for local social innovators who use technology to solve the country’s most challenging social problems.
Since GFM’s debut in 2017, 13 different local and international start-ups have been given a chance to build their brand and contribute to social development. These unique and pioneering start-ups focused on projects dealing with learning and education, health and well-being, climate change and displacement, and e-commerce.
Globe strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly UN SDG No. 9, which highlights the roles of infrastructure and innovation as crucial drivers of economic growth and development. Globe is committed to upholding the United Nations Global Compact principles and 10 UN SDGs.