Startup incubator and accelerator StartUp Village rang in the new year by officially opening applications to the SOAR: The Global Accelerator Program. The initiative offers five Filipino startups the chance to embark on a transformative journey, culminating with the startup demo day at the Collision 2024 tech event in Toronto, Canada from June 17-20, 2024.
To enter, startups must prove they are solving a compelling problem using innovating solutions. Other requirements include at least one full-time founder, an in-house technical lead/CTO, a functional MVP, potential to be a venture backable business in the global market, and zero legal and financial impediments to success.
Participants in the SOAR program will undergo a rigorous five-month acceleration program in collaboration with leading Canadian startup incubator DMZ, including mentorship from international experts. Participants will also embark on a two-week journey in Canada, engaging in an acceleration program and attending Collision 2024. Finally, Demo Day at Collision 2024 empowers participating startups by offering them the opportunity to actively pitch themselves to an international audience, with SOAR facilitating client matching and ensuring strategic connections for market growth.
Participants still receive support even after the SOAR Program ends, with StartUp Village offering further matchups with more potential investors, places in local showcases, and involvement with StartUp Village’s promotional activities.
Created by the team behind renowned tech conference Web Summit and dubbed “North America’s fastest growing tech conference,” Collision brings in thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, and journalists from around the world to highlight upcoming startups and discuss burgeoning tech trends. Multiple tech giants have also attended Collision conferences in the past, including Cisco, Slack, Shopify, Atlassian, Uber, and more.
Collision is committed to ensuring fair representation at its event, with over 130 startups from underrepresented communities in attendance at Collision 2023. This includes women-founded startups, tech talent from indigenous communities, and black entrepreneurs.
Carlo Calimon, President and Co-Founder of StartUp Village, adds that Collision is an ideal partner given the diversity of its audience and connection to the growing Canadian startup ecosystem. “Canada has shown a lot of promise for startups especially in technology and creatives as well,” he said. Toronto, in particular, has been noted as an emerging tech hub with companies like Samsung and Google setting up their AI operations in the city.
Launched in 2017, StartUp Village aims to be a comprehensive incubator/accelerator, offering startups mentoring, training, shared services, workspace, and connections to customers, investors, and various resources.
The SOAR program is just the latest in a long line of StartUp Village’s initiatives for growing Filipino startups, with the organization frequently hosting training programs and even immersion trips to international tech hubs such as Silicon Valley. One of StartUp Village’s flagship programs is The Gift, a 14-week, once-a-week training program with graduates including edutech company Studentship Philippines, financial solutions provider PearlPay, and PasaJob (which later went on to work with GCash). A simultaneous program, Engage 2024, will run concurrently with SOAR. Participants will visit Silicon Valley from March 4-8 and July 29-August 2, as well as Canada from June 17-21.
Calimon explains the SOAR program provides startups with immediate advantages through international exposure. “The objective of having the global showcase is really to create more opportunities for startups to cast a wider net and get access to resources they need,” Calimon said. “This does not mean abandoning establishing their local presence. We have seen success stories of startups that were showcased internationally but are still establishing a local presence. The international showcase allowed them to access more funds and technology that they use in establishing their Philippine presence. Still, there also might be a chance for startups who are experiencing challenges locally to find ways to expand and grow faster in other markets.”
Calimon also explained that the SOAR program started with StartUp Village’s Engage Canada trip, which immersed Filipino startups in the Canadian tech scene and highlighted the 2023 edition of Collision. There, Calimon was struck by the substantial presence of startups, attracting approximately 40,000 attendees, including investors, corporates, and government officials.
Yet, Calimon also noticed similarities between the startups showcased at Collision 2023 and many of the startups he worked with in the Philippines, prompting him to contemplate how to showcase Philippine startups abroad. Coincidentally, Engage Canada included interactions with DMZ Canada—leading to the decision that the SOAR program would serve as a bridge for Canadian startups to the Philippines and vice versa.
By the end of the program, participating startups should represent the best of the Philippine startup ecosystem. “We expect startups to maximize the opportunities presented to them,” Calimon said. “We want them to become flag bearers for the country and the startup ecosystem and show that we are just as good, if not better than other countries. Later on, we also expect the startups to pay it forward to other startups so that they can succeed as well.”
Interested startups can sign up for the SOAR program at the link here.