Technopreneur Winston Damarillo to start Philippine Angel Network Fund

The Philippines will soon have its own Angel Network. The project is led by serial entrepreneur Winston Damarillo and PhilDev, a non-profit that promotes economic development through science and technology, It also has the support of Dado Banatao, a Filipino pioneer in Silicon Valley.

Dubbed the Philippine Angel Network Fund, the initiative will target Philippine-based startups as well as companies headed by Filipino-Americans. The fund, which has support from the Philippine government’s Department of Trade and Industry, will ask individual investors to commit to an investment level of at least USD 100k. Read more

8 startups at Hack2Hatch in Philippines to receive PHP100,000 each in seed money

Eight startups in the Philippines will receive PHP100,000 (USD2,414) in seed money after winning the inaugural Hack2Hatch, a weekend entrepreneurship camp in Cebu that culminated in a pitch competition. The event was held on 5-7 October.

Hack2Hatch was organized by PhilDev, a non-profit to that promotes tech innovation in the Philippines, and DevCon, a non-profit that promotes Pinoy IT talent. The 8 startups were whittled down from 22 finalists.

The event is part of the Silicon Valley Comes to the Philippines series, which ends on 8 October with PhilDev’s Harnessing Filipino Innovation and Entrepreneurship forum in Makati City.  Read more

Get ready for Hack2Hatch: From Hacker to Founder – A Weekend Camp for Technopreneurs

Young startups wishing to receive one-on-one mentorship by experienced mentors and founders from Silicon Valley may look no further. Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev) is partnering up with Developers Connect Philippines (DevCon) to organize Hack2Hatch, a weekend entrepreneurship camp to be held on 5th-7th October 2012 in Cebu City, Philippines. This initiative is part of the “Silicon Valley Comes to the Philippines” (SVC2PH), a four-day mentorship and speaker series aimed at encouraging Filipino innovation and entrepreneurship, and serves as a prelude to PhilDev’s Economic Forum: Harnessing Filipino Innovation and Entrepreneurship on 08 October in Makati.
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The Philippine startup scene: Asia’s best kept secret?

Dado Banatao is probably the most successful Silicon Valley technopreneur you’ve never heard of. Some say that 30 percent of every computer today carries technology and ideas that originated from this unassuming Filipino.

Many of his compatriots have left their mark on the technology world as well. There’s Peter Valdes, who started Tivoli Systems in 1989, then led the company to an IPO in 1994 and eventually sold it for US$743M. Another good example is Dennis Mendiola, who founded Chikka Asia, the creator of Chikka Messenger, an instant messenger with about 38 million users.

Raw talent is not lacking in the Philippines — many entrepreneurs have succeeded in spite of the lack of a startup ecosystem. But now, a concerted effort is made by the country and its people to replicate and localize the Silicon Valley model back home. The hope is that as more funding and support emerge in the Philippines, more of the nation’s talent will find success within its borders.

To fully understand the challenges of creating a successful startup ecosystem in the Philippines, one must start with this number: As of 2010, there are about 9 million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW), making up almost 10 percent of the local population.

It’s a brain drain on a unimaginable scale, big enough to become an industry, and, ironically, a market for saavy entrepreneurs to tackle.

The cause of this problem is the lack of work opportunities for educated Filipinos, said Christina Laskowski, president of STAC Silicon Valley, an organization that works with the government to encourage technological innovation in the Philippines. Read more