4 global tech influencers that gave the Philippines their blessing as a great place for startups

This year seems to be the start of a blossoming in the Philippines’ startup ecosystem. Global investors are slowly seeing the potential of domestic startups, resulting in four Philippine startups getting funded this year. But Tech in Asia wanted to look further into this market and what some of the tech startup influencers have to say.

Here are some of the prominent tech precursors globally who visited the Philippines to share expertise and scope out the scene.

Pollenizer

Australian venture builder Pollenizer came to the Philippines this June to partner with Philippine incubator Kickstart Ventures and hunt down the country’s next gutsy startup. Pollenizer CEO and founder Phil Morle had already visited the Philippines several times, and he noted that the Philippine market has a unique standard of entrepreneurship that is crucial in building a successful startup.

That’s why Morle, together with Kickstart president Minette Navarette, believe that a billion-dollar startup can come in the Philippines. That’s a huge declaration, but when said by two tech experts, it sounds like an affirmation that the Philippine startup scene has a great potential.

AngelHack

AngelHack came to Manila this year to conduct its first competition in the country. As a result, one of the startup teams, PageSnapp, received a travel grant to Silicon Valley, where it would be introduced to several prominent incubators and investors.

The then-AngelHack CEO Greg Gopman, who also flew to Manila, spoke of its plans to open an office in the Philippines, describing it as “emerging as one of the top regions in terms of developer skills.”

This could really help boost the startup ecosystem in the Philippines. But as Gopman became embroiled in a controversy and stepped down as CEO, the status of the office remains up in the air. We’ll keep our fingers crossed and bet that the talented team at AngelHack still has some plans in store.

Bowei Gai and Philippine Startup Report co-authors

In Septemeber, some of the tech influencers in the Philippines organized Geeks on a Beach, an event similar to Silicon Valley’s Geeks on a Plane. The event was attended by many international tech startup influencers such as Innovation Endeavors founding partner Ron Hose, Plug & Play Tech Center co-founder Jojo Flores and World Startup Report founder Bowei Gai.

This was the same venue Gai published his crowdsourced Philippine startup report.

Lean Startup Machine