The 2nd KMC Startup Awards, held on November 15, 2024, recognized the Philippines’ most promising startups driving innovation and sustainability across various sectors. The event, organized by KMC Solutions in collaboration with the Philippine Startup Week, QBO Innovation Hub, Kaya Founders, WEB3 PH, PowerMac Center, and Uniquecorn Strategies culminated, Philippine Startup Week 2024.
This year’s awards saw a record-breaking number of entries – over 300 from more than 100 startups nationwide. The competition spanned across 10 categories, with 30 finalists receiving gold, silver, and bronze distinctions.
Top Honors and Emerging Stars
GoTyme Bank was crowned Startup of the Year, alongside two additional gold awards for Innovation in Marketing and Growth Champion. Packworks, a B2B open platform empowering sari-sari stores, earned recognition for Tech Innovation and Emerging Leader of the Year for Co-founder and CEO Bing Tan.
Other gold winners include Sprout Solutions for Customer Excellence Award, Xeleqt for Innovative Product of the Year, Mylo Speech Buddy for Social Impact Award, Mober Technology, Inc. for Sustainability Award, and OneLot for Best Newcomer Award.
The silver winners are UNO Digital Bank (Startup of the Year), Cocotel International CEO Rafael Jouwena (Emerging Leader of the Year), Mylo Speech Buddy (Best Newcomer Award and Innovative Product of the Year), Qonnec Software Solutions Inc. (Tech Innovator Award), GoTyme Bank (Customer Excellence Award), Saint C (Innovation in Marketing Award), Sprout Solutions (Growth Champion Award), PAMMÉ (Sustainability Award), and Packworks (Social Impact Award).
Meanwhile, the bronze winners are Packworks (Startup of the Year), Unprude (Best Newcomer Award and Emerging Leader of the Year for Founder and CEO Rica Cruz, PHD), Cocotel International (Tech Innovator Award), KwikCare (Customer Excellence Award), Smile API (Innovative Product of the Year), EdukSine (Innovation in Marketing Award), Mober Technology, Inc. (Growth Champion), Agrabah Ventures (Sustainability Award), and Adobokashi Systems, Inc. (Pic-A-Talk AAC) (Social Impact Award).
Mober, a frontrunner in green logistics, made significant strides in sustainable transportation. The company was recognized with the Gold Sustainability Award for its transformative work with electric vehicles (EVs) and the bronze Growth Champion Award for its rapid expansion.
“These recognitions are a testament to our relentless drive to innovate and lead the logistics industry toward a sustainable future. At Mober, we believe growth and sustainability go hand in hand, inspiring us to work even harder toward a greener Philippines and beyond,” said Mober Founder and CEO Dennis Ng.
A Stronger Startup Ecosystem
The KMC Startup Awards serve as a platform not only for recognition but also for fostering connections and mentorship within the startup community.
“This event holds a special place for us because we’ve been in their shoes—it wasn’t too long ago that KMC was a startup figuring out how to turn big ideas into reality. While we’ve grown, we’ve kept that agile mindset, constantly creating solutions to make it easier for businesses to navigate complexity and scale. Seeing these startups bring their visions to life is a powerful reminder of the magic that happens when great ideas meet determination,” said Michael McCullough, Co-founder of KMC Solutions.