Globe Telecom and its fully-owned venture capital subsidiary Kickstart Ventures, Inc. bolstered the second staging of Slingshot Philippines 2016, the two-day National Summit on Startups and Innovation covering the fields of agriculture, biotechnology, electronics, and digital startups, among others.
With the theme “Accelerating the Innovation Economy,” SlingshotPH provided an avenue for young minds with big ideas, innovators, investors, and policymakers to collaborate and set the standard for the Philippine startup community.
Globe, through its enterprise information and communications technology (ICT) arm Globe Business, served as co-presenter of the event and helped startups understand the need for uninterrupted business through the right technology, infrastructure, and know-how.
“It is imperative that Globe Business, as the trusted business advisor of choice of enterprises, support these kind of events. Our drive to understand passions greatly redounds to the spirit of the Philippine startup community. It is with high hopes that we help them achieve operational efficiency and business growth,” said Globe Business Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT-Enabled Services Group Mike Frausing.
Around 50 speakers and panelists including JD Montelibano, Globe Business Head of Research and Product Development, talked about the role of ICT in nurturing the Philippine innovation economy before some 600 conference delegates. Montelibano discussed the different IT solutions that can help startups such as Google Apps for Work and Chromebook, Microsoft Office 365, including Connectivity and Mobility packages.
The conference also saw venture capitalists like Kickstart sharing in terms of resources or expertise to help create that ecosystem for local tech startups. Kickstart President Minette Navarrete, one of the SlingshotPH panel moderators, noted that through technology tools, investors, entrepreneurs and regulators can use digital funding platforms to create a transparent, accountable and efficient ecosystem.
“In a fledgling ecosystem like the Philippines, the role of venture capital like Kickstart is to break barriers that prevent startups achieving any sort of traction, and to build bridges to help startups scale. Close and relevant engagement between the business community, the public sector, and the startup founders is key. Beyond capital, the critical factor is access: to funding, to commercial deals, and to mentors and other supportive relationships. These help create a stronger Philippine startup community. We’ve loved that our parent Globe Telecom and Ayala Corporation affiliates have supported our portfolio companies through sponsorship, distribution, product development and marketing deals, and we’re thrilled that other companies are following suit,” said Navarrete.
Slingshot Philippines 2016 was the direct offshoot of Slingshot Manila 2015, the official startup and innovation event organized by the Department of Trade and Industry in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and key industry stakeholders such as Globe Business and Kickstart.
Photo caption: JD Montelibano Globe Business Head of Research and Product Development discusses how ICT enables startups to achieve operational efficiency and business growth.
