PH Consulate General in San Francisco Hosts Public Consultations on the Innovative Startup Act
Philippine Deputy Consul General to San Francisco Raquel Solano delivers her welcome remarks at the “Startup Meetup: Consultations on the Innovative Startup Act” at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center on 13 January 2020. (San Francisco PCG photo)
SAN FRANCISCO 24 January 2020 – The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco, in coordination with the Philippine Trade and Investment Center-Silicon Valley, hosted a public dialogue entitled “Consultations on the Innovative Startup Act” at the Kalayaan Hall, Philippine Center on 13 January 2020.
The StartUp MeetUps are part of the overarching Spark*Connect*Empower movement, which hopes to “spark” interest in the startup ecosystem in the Philippines among Filipino Americans, “connect” individuals and organizations in Silicon Valley to like-minded networks in the Philippines, and “empower” the community to help bridge the gap between the Philippines and Silicon Valley.
The event was organized in collaboration with the Consulate’s Philippine Trade and Investment Center, as part a series of events entitled “StartUp MeetUp” which provides opportunities for agencies, organizations and startups in the Philippines to connect and meet with their counterparts in Silicon Valley.
This particular “StartUp MeetUp” focused on bringing together public and private stakeholders from the Philippine business and startup ecosystem with founders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, enablers and Filipino tech professionals from Silicon Valley. The objective was to seek the inputs of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem and the Filipino diaspora in formulating guidelines for the recently signed Republic Act 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act.
The Philippine delegation was comprised of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Guevara, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Dr. Rafaelita “Fita” M. Aldaba, DTI-Export Making Bureau (EMB) Assistant Director Anthony Rivera, and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)-Office of the Undersecretary for Internal Economic Relations (OUIER) Special Assistant Joselito Chad Jacinto, along with private sector representatives.
In her opening remarks, Deputy Consul General Raquel Solano, speaking on behalf of Consul General Henry S. Bensurto, Jr., welcomed the diverse group of delegates from the Philippines and guests from Silicon Valley. She recognized the strength of the Filipino tech community, with Filipino talent working in a wide range of fields, including computer programming, engineering, marketing, customer service, and human resources. She noted that Filipinos in tech form a powerful community and this presence is felt through Filipinos working in Google, Apple, Netflix, Facebook, among others, as well as through Filipino tech organizations. She highlighted the significance of the consultations as it provides an opportunity for the Filipino diaspora, especially those involved in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, to contribute the wealth of their ideas in formulating guidelines for the Innovative Startup Act.
DOST Undersecretary Guevara delivered a presentation on the state of the Philippine Startup Ecosystem. She shared that the DOST, DTI and Department of Inforrmation and Communications Technology (DICT) are jointly tasked with developing the country’s startup ecosystem under the provisions of the Innovative Startup Act. Even prior to the law’s signing, the ecosystem has been growing, with government and private sector support at every stage (idea/research and development, product, market, expansion). She shared that there are now 44 technology business incubators operating throughout the country to assist these startups. She noted that there are now over 500 successful startups in the Philippines and highlighted a number of innovative ones, such as Papa.ph, Biotek-M, and Cropital.
DTI Undersecretary Dr. Rafaelita “Fita” M. Aldaba delivered a presentation on the opportunities and challenges for the Philippine startup ecosystem. She noted that the Philippine economy, over the past decades, has demonstrated resilience and has consistently exhibited strong growth, largely driven by the manufacturing sector. This has paved the way to a nascent, but emerging startup ecosystem, with 45 funders, 44 incubators, 54 co-working spaces, and 54 universities with startups. She shared, however, a number of challenges, such as a low level of global market reach for Philippine startups, a low number of experienced engineers, and a low volume of early stage funding available for startups. She expressed hope, however, that through legislation such as Republic Act 11293 or the Philippine Innovation Act or Republic Act 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act, a greater push towards startup development would be realized, thereby strengthening the ecosystem.
For the consultations, two sets of panelists shared their inputs on the Innovative Startup Act. The first panel, moderated by Ms. Nancy Hwang of Google, was composed of the Silicon Valley founders and entrepreneurs Plentina Founder Kevin Gabayan, Joymode Co-founder/Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Waynn Lue, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Relay Ventures Jessica Tsoong.
The second panel, moderated by Cognity Labs Ms. Mikaela Reyes, was composed of Silicon Valley enablers President of the Science and Technology Advisory Council – Silicon Valley (STAC-SV) Christina Laskowski, Founder of Filipino Americans in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (FASTER) Erin Pangilinan, Senior Director for Global Corporate Solutions at NASDAQ, Serial Entrepreneur, and Angel Investor Jim Harvey Sy, Innovation and Partnerships Head at 500 Startups Thomas Jeng.
The panelists commended the signing of the Innovative Startup Act and noted that it served as a positive start in building the Philippine startup ecosystem. They recommended that the Philippines position itself in the global stage and highlight its strengths for Silicon Valley funders to take notice. They further suggested the setting up of one-stop shops for startups, and the possibility of “startup tours” for interested funders and enablers.
The points raised during the panel discussions were duly noted by Undersecretaries Guevara and Aldaba during the open forum and shall be taken under consideration in the formulation of guidelines for the Innovative Startup Act.
The Consultations were well-received by the participants attending the event. The Consulate, through its Spark 447 program, shall continue organizing similar events and engaging with the diaspora towards assisting the Philippine startup ecosystem. END
Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Rowena Guevara delivers remarks on “The Philippine Startup Ecosystem”. (San Francisco PCG photo)
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Dr. Rafaelita “Fita” M. Aldaba delivers remarks on “Startup PH: Opportunities and Challenges”. (San Francisco PCG photo)
Nancy Hwang of Google (leftmost) moderates the panel discussion from Sillicon Valley founders and entrepreneurs Co-Founder/Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Joymode Waynn Lue, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Relay Ventures Jessica Tsoong, and Founder of Plentina Kevin Gabayon. (San Francisco PCG photo)
Cognity Labs Ms. Mikaela Reyes (leftmost) moderates the panel discussion from Silicon Valley Eneblers President of Science and Technology Advisory Council – Silicon Valley Christina Laskowski (second from left), Innovations and 500 Startups Partnerships Head Thomas Jeng (third from left), Filipino-Americans in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (FASTER) Founder Erin Pangilinan (fourth from left), and Senior Director for Global Corporate Solutions at NASDAQ, Serial Entrepreneur, and Angel Investor Jim Harvey Sy (rightmost). (San Francisco PCG photo)
For more information, visit https://www.sanfranciscopcg.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philippinessanfrancisco.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSF/.