Southeast Asia is going through rapid urbanization today and the United Nations expects the region’s population to reach more than 740 million by 2035. With urbanization, however, comes urban problems and issues, including traffic congestion, flooding, air pollution, and a lot more.
While these problems are giving government heads and urban planners a tough time to address, urbanization and the issues that come with it also offer a great opportunity for tech startups.
Last week, tech startups in the Philippines gathered in Davao City for a three-day program – the Techstars Startup Weekend – that, for the first time, seeks to address urban problems with smart solutions.
The event was timely for Davao City, whose national ranking for startups dropped by one spot to fifth and two spots lower from its 19th place in Southeast Asia, based on the Global Startup Ecosystem Index of StartupBlink for 2022.
The Techstars Startup Weekend Smart Cities Davao City brought together 10 teams, with at least six members each, to develop and pitch the next big startup idea that will address the urban problems of the city and its residents with smart solutions.
Once a Google initiative, Techstars Startup Weekend is about pitching a million-dollar idea, mastering a business model, prototyping, designing, and market validation, in a supportive environment of startup incubators, mentors, industry partners, and investors.
The catch, however, is that the startup teams only have 54 hours to come up with a doable, scalable solution.
Any city in any region of the globe can host a Startup Weekend. The idea behind hosting independent Startup Weekend events is to boost the locality’s startup ecosystem.
The problems that their businesses promise to address are founded on the need to better their communities. The participants craft solutions to solve their urban problems.
In the recently concluded Techstars Startup Weekend Davao 2022, teams were able to pitch various ideas that dwelt on providing solutions to urbanization-related issues.
The winning team, AutoCare, offers users an all-in-one car management and car service locator app so they will never miss a car maintenance check-up ever again. Looking for ways to navigate traffic and ensure that your car is well maintained to not emit hazardous gases? Autocare is it!
AutoCare provides a user-friendly map to locate the nearest car shop according to the user’s location. It also shows the cheapest gas prices within the area.
Additionally, the app allows users to book a mechanic, or find the necessary car service to provide the appropriate care for their cars.
AutoCare, founded by Vincent Binobo, Franz Vilela, Vonrie Viscayno, Patrick Castro, Zian Callao, Gab Jacinto, and Mark Sijera, will receive a P200,000 incubation package from UPGRADE TBI – UP Mindanao, $100,000 AWS Credit, and other perks and prizes from Google for Startups, Miro, and GoDaddy.