Various challenges and successes of startups and the role of Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) in nurturing and supporting them were highlighted on the third day of the Philippine Startup Week 2022, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said on Friday, Dec. 16.

This was during the TBI Summit of DOST with the theme: “Homegrown Heroes: Incubating Future Tech Giants” which puts a spotlight on the challenges and successes of homegrown heroes and the role of the TBIs in nurturing and supporting them. “The TBIs have truly been significant in building a thriving startup ecosystem and in developing innovative startups in their respective localities who have the potential to become the next technology superstars,” he said.

DOST PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit in his talk discussed the significant accomplishments of the DOST Startup Development Program. Among these is the impact of the support the DOST has provided to the startups and TBIs.

“The first 15 grantees of the Startup Grant Fund have collectively created 455 jobs, acquired 647 clients, raised P97.4M in private investment and generated P280.7M of revenues. If you look at the figures, the amount of investment plus the total revenues of the startups have already exceeded the amount of funding we have provided them. We are optimistic that these figures will increase as we measure the impact from the startups, we funded in 2021 and 2022”, he said.

As for the TBIs, Paringit mentioned that they have collectively incubated and nurtured 1,369 startups, created more than 5000 jobs, raised over P1.7B in private investments, and generated P766.7 million worth of private investment. Additionally, the TBIs themselves have also received a total of P118.3M million in private investments from their various partners. “Our investment for the TBIs since 2018 amounts to a total of 244 million, and we are glad that our startups have attracted people and organizations to invest in them, as manifested in the investments and revenues they have raised and generated,” Paringit added.

One of the summit's highlights is the keynote speeches from a TBI Manager and a DOST-funded startup. Mr. Prim Paypon, the Executive Director of the Asian Institute of Management – Dado Banatao Incubator (AIM-DBI), talked about how the TBI has supported their startups during the pandemic, the core values that a TBI Team should have, and the best practices of AIM DBI.

Alfred Gersava, Co-Founder of Virtualahan, a Davao-based social enterprise funded under the PCIEERD Women Helping Women – Innovating Social Enterprises (WHWISE) Program, on the other hand shared their humble beginnings, local and global successes to inspire future technopreneurs that it is possible to go from being “zero” to “hero”.

The summit also featured startup founders from the Visayas like Nel Laygo of Peddlr (Samar), Neil Clyde Kho of The Green Table (Cebu), Wilvie Añora of AtoANI (Bohol) and Noreen Bautista of Panublix (Iloilo). They all shared their biggest hurdles/challenges being a startup/social enterprise from the countryside and how they overcome those hurdles/challenges, their greatest success story and the contributing factors that helped them achieve that success, the role of their TBIs in shaping them to become homegrown heroes and future technology giants and the importance of government support in their startup journey.

After two years of holding it online, this year’s TBI Summit was held at the Blue Leaf Pavilion, McKinley Taguig City, and was attended by more than 300 participants from different parts of the country.