On May 17, the startup accelerator DOHE Cebu (a branch of Singapore-headquartered DOHE Global) and the Department of Trade and Industry Region VII (DTI-7) successfully held its All Aboard! Startup Summer Mixer event at the Asmara Urban Resort & Lifestyle Village in Banilad, Cebu City.
All Aboard! Startup Mixers are a series of events typically held by DOHE Cebu every 3rd Wednesday of the month, starting back in July 2022.
The latest edition of the mixer begins the path to Fiestartup 2023, an initiative supported by DTI-7 that is aimed at promoting Cebu’s startup ecosystem and creating opportunities for tech startups in the Visayas-Mindanao market. Fiestartup 2023 is scheduled for November.
The mixer itself saw the participation of at least 96 attendees, which were a mixture of startup founders, government employees (such as from the Cebu City government and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) regional offices), members of the academe, and more.
The mixer gave six Cebuano startups in the growth stage the opportunity to present their businesses before a panel of key entrepreneurship enablers during the afternoon-long event.
The panel consisted of DOHE Vice President Walter Cang, DTI-7 Regional Director Maria Elena “Nannette” Arbon, National Development Company (NDC) General Manager Anton Mauricio, Gobi-Core PH Fund general partner Ken Ngo, Foxmont Capital managing partner Franco Varona, and Cebu-based software company and startup studio Symph Inc. CEO Dave Overton. Segments of the event were moderated by Jeaun Tolsa and Joy Garingo of co-working spaces From Here and The Company Cebu.
According to Varona, the time is ripe for investments to pour in for Cebu startups. “We are now very actively looking at other cities, other regions to invest in. We have invested in founders that are living in places like Catbalogan, Samar, and Pampanga. Do we have any in Cebu? Not yet. So, we’re very, very interested in doing so,” said Varona, whose firm Foxmont Capital notably has a $25 million fund for Philippine-focused startups.
The six startups presenting were instant remittances app Jiph, 360° virtual tours provider Mata Technologies, e-commerce service Oh My Genie!, healthcare digitalization solutions provider SugboDoc, uniform apparel manufacturer Unisol, and Xeleqt, a service powered by the Internet of Things (IoT) that assists businesses in resource management.
A few of the presenting startups were able to close recent funding rounds. On January 31, Mata Technologies was selected for the 2nd cohort of the Arise Plus Ye! Boost Accelerator. Additionally, Jiph (then known as PayHiram) joined the 1st cohort of the same accelerator just last year.
According to organizers of the event, the selection process involved choosing Cebuano startups that were either in the launch or growth stage, possessing a functional tech product and an established user or customer base. Among the six presenters, SugboDoc was identified as being in the earliest stage, while the remaining startups had already been operating for a considerable period of time. It is worth noting that all of these startups were regular participants in the monthly mixers organized by the accelerator.
Additionally, three other Cebuano startups in the ideation stage showcased their business concepts. These were the smart fashion recommendation app Fitin, AI-powered travel itinerary-builder Travel Budol, and HiLands Fresh, a platform allowing consumers to directly buy from local farmers.
Finally, representatives from the DTI Competitiveness Bureau, the DICT, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), also spoke at the event, informing startups about various grants, competitions, and government services available to them.
“There is no better time for startups to move forward than now because you have the strong convergence of key enablers in the community like DOHE, business chambers, potential investors, and government agencies like DTI, DICT, and DOST working hand in hand and ready to nurture, guide, and support you,” said Cang.
Overall, DOHE Cebu’s core mission of providing startups with training, mentorship, and networking opportunities to connect them with potential investors, partners, and talent pools continues. With events such as the recent All Aboard! Startup Summer Mixer and Fiestartup 2023, the accelerator will be closer than ever to its goal of strengthening the Cebuano startup ecosystem.
For further information on upcoming mixers and other events, DOHE Cebu can be contacted via phone at (032) 436-1142, via email at ac@dohegroup.com, or via the official DOHE Cebu LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram pages. Additional details can be found on their website.
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