Philippine Startup Week (PHSW) 2025 officially kicked off its main events on November 11–14 at the newly opened Philippine Innovation Hub, marking the country’s premier gathering for innovation. While the annual event, themed “Scaling Filipino Innovation: Start Local, Go Global,” celebrated significant milestones, an air of cautious pragmatism prevailed during the preceding media launch, where organizers highlighted persistent challenges and confronted the urgent need for a more focused national strategy.
The week’s activities began with a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the Philippine Innovation Hub, graced by government and industry leaders. Among the key officials present were Saturnino H. Mejia, General Manager of the National Development Company (NDC); H.E. Bran Ferrer Reluao, Special Envoy of the President to the Kingdom of Thailand; Secretary Cristina Roque of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); and Congressman Miro Quimbo of Marikina District 2. Their presence underscored the collaborative effort to support the ecosystem, which this year includes the NDC and the SCALE NCR (Strategic and Collaborative Alliance for Leveraging Ecosystems of Startups–National Capital Region) as key partners.
Funding Woes and a Critical Transition
The press conference served as the platform for the official turnover of the Innovative Startup Act (ISA) Steering Committee chairmanship from the DOST to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
Dr. Leah J. Buendia, DOST Undersecretary and outgoing ISA Chairperson, presented a strong record, announcing that the committee has successfully mobilized ₱2.1 billion in government funding, supported 212 startups, and incubated 2,233 ventures through a network of 158 Technology Business Incubators (TBIs) and innovation hubs.
However, a dose of reality was injected by the concurrent release of the Gobi Partners‘ Philippine Startup Ecosystem Report 2025, which revealed a sharp 32% decline in startup funding last year. This market reality puts pressure on the ISA’s new ambitious goal: the “ISA 2030 Vision” to foster an ecosystem capable of producing four Philippine Unicorns.
Addressing the critical issues that continue to plague the sector, Usec. Buendia did not mince words about the central challenge: “For the longest time, there was no funding (for the ISA Steering Committee itself).”
She stressed that a priority for the incoming leadership must be to secure a dedicated and strategic pool of funds. “The funding is in the National Innovation Council (NIC), not in the ISA. So we need to re-coordinate with NIC so that the funding with NIC can also be tapped by ISA,” she said, adding that the focus is now on joint efforts “so that our funding is not thinly spread, but focused with high impact.”
Jhino Ilano, Director at DICT’s ICT Industry Development Bureau, affirmed the strength of the ISA’s collaborative model, noting the “convergence and the collaboration between three government agencies.” He highlighted the importance of moving beyond a siloed approach: “You can see how it evolved from no funding to using own individual government agencies funds, but working towards a unified goal.”
The Call for Regional Niche-Building
The most dynamic exchange of the briefing focused on a structural critique of the current ecosystem support: why the government continues to “spread resources to startups too thinly” across the country, instead of adopting a regional best practice model where areas are incentivized to specialize in specific high-value industries, much like other innovation hubs in Asia.
The ISA committee members agreed on the necessity of this shift. Usec. Buendia acknowledged the unique nature of the Philippines: “You’re right, because of our archipelagic nature, our unique features are different. That’s why I said earlier that each region should have a niche.”
She reiterated that the transition is necessary to compete with better-funded models. “Unlike Singapore, the government said, ‘I’ll put this much and then you focus on this.’ It’s easy to follow if there’s money to be given.”
The DICT pledged to institutionalize this approach, with Director Ilano stating, “We completely agree on that. And we will be working together with other ISA members, with NIC, to really have a very good proposal on having a niche startup for every region.” He cited the DICT’s AI-DEAS program, which challenges regions to solve pressing local problems using technology, as a blueprint for the future.
However, the DTI cautioned that implementation requires groundwork. Jo-Dann Darong, Officer in Charge (Director IV), agreed that “regionalism would be part of a strategy because each region has its own strength,” but noted the challenge of “uneven infrastructure, even access to capital.”
He added that while the government respects the startups’ ideation process, the goal is to guide them, especially now with the signing of the Tatak Pinoy Act which lists priority industries. Darong concluded: “That proposal for regionalism and the region’s focus in the tech industry will only be realized when the access to infrastructure and capital are put into place.”
The week-long celebration, held in the new Philippine Innovation Hub, is not a showcase, but a pivotal moment where the country’s startup leadership is committing to a more disciplined, focused, and integrated strategy to overcome external headwinds and internal structural challenges.