In an initiative to support the country’s startup ecosystem, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has partnered with Silicon Valley-based venture capital (VC) provider Plug and Play to commercialize operations of 40 startups each year starting in 2024.
The DTI signed on Nov. 21 a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Plug and Play aimed at pioneering a national startup initiative to promote the entrepreneurial spirit, economic growth, and global technology innovation in the Philippines.
“In partnership with Plug and Play, our goal is to forge connections with leading market corporations, creating a nurturing space for both local and international startups here in the Philippines,” DTI Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said.
The plan includes startup acceleration, private sector engagement, investment attraction, and skills development.
In particular, the DTI chief said that they are targeting to conduct two annual acceleration cycles to aid in the pilot and commercialization of over 20 tech startup companies.
Through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts, Pascual said that the program will concentrate on strengthening the IT-BPO industry through artificial intelligence (Al) adoption; empowering manufacturing industries through Industry 4.0 technologies; catalyzing growth in agritech; enhancing financial services; and exploring several more key areas.
In addition, the program also aims to enhance upskilling and knowledge transfer in both corporate and public sectors, focusing on open innovation and the development of an intellectual property-based economy.
For his part, Plug and Play co-founder Jojo Flores said that the company's role in building the platform is to bring in both the private sector and the startups to find solutions based on their technological challenges.
“We bring the startups both locally and internationally into the platform to be accelerated. So they work through a three-month program where we engage actively and collaborate between startups and the industries,” he said.
In terms of funding, Flores said that Plug and Play will not only depend on the fund coming from the government but more importantly from foreign direct investments coming from international investors, as the company has over 500 international investors in Asia alone.
Renowned as the largest corporate innovation platform on a global scale, Plug and Play collaborates with over 600 corporations, and propels more than 2,000 startups annually.
It stands tall as one of the most prolific early-stage investors, with a portfolio that includes over 2,000 investments and 35 unicorns – startup companies with devaluation of at least $1 Billion.