IdeaSpace opens 2015 startup competition

IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc. (IdeaSpace), the largest privately-backed technology incubator and accelerator in the country, has announced the opening of its 2015 startup competition which seeks to find the next big great technology idea from the Philippines and around the region.


Now on its third year, the IdeaSpace competition continues to foster relevant ideas and breakthrough innovations from some of the region’s most brilliant minds by providing at least P1 million worth of seed funding, legal consulting, mentorship opportunities, office space, and market runway to eventual winners.


As in last year’s competition, the 2015 tilt will also be accepting early-stage startup ideas from founders based in countries from Southeast Asia, as the region emerges to become one of the most important technology startup hubs in the world.


Interested groups and individuals may file their applications via apply.ideaspacefoundation.org on or before January 15, 2015.


Supporting the ecosystem

IdeaSpace President and Co-founder Earl Martin Valencia said innovative Filipino founders should take this opportunity to bring their brilliant technology ideas to reality and contribute to the emerging Philippine startup ecosystem.


“As we’ve seen in recent months, the local startup community is more vibrant than ever. Investors from here and around the world, including those from Silicon Valley, all have their eyes trained on Philippine startups,” he said.

Just recently, IdeaSpace was instrumental in two of the biggest startup community events that brought key global investors and local startup players in one venue: Geeks on a Plane in Makati City and Geeks on a Beach in Cebu—both with Dave McClure of 500 Startups, considered the most active venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, in attendance.

“Investors are taking notice, and we have the brilliant ideas that could take the world by storm. IdeaSpace hopes to foster and nurture those kinds of innovation,” Valencia added.


Top ideas

The top 20 ideas after three rounds of judging will officially enter IdeaSpace’s six-week incubation phase, where each startup will receive a P50,000 grant for prototype development, presentation materials, and customer validation, among others.

After the incubation phase, the IdeaSpace Board of Trustees will select the top ten startups that will enter the acceleration phase, an intensive 18-week program that will help each startup develop their products, set up their corporation and business permits, and conduct market validation, among others.

Each startup that successfully enters the acceleration phase will get P500,000 in seed funding, plus a separate grant worth at least another P500,000 inclusive of business management classes, marketing and financial consulting, intellectual property consulting and incorporation, office space, and business registration costs, among others.

Since launching in 2012, IdeaSpace has invested and nurtured early-stage startups that have eventually become full-fledged businesses with marked growth. Some of these include PinoyTravel, an online travel booking system for provincial buses and ferries; TimeFree Innovations, a virtual queuing system that uses SMS for notifications; and SALt, an ecologically designed lamp powered by tap water and table salt, among many others.

A non-profit foundation, IdeaSpace is supported by the following companies: First Pacific, First Pacific Leadership Academy, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC), Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC), MPIC hospital group, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Meralco, Smart Communications, Inc (Smart), Digitel Mobile Philippines, Inc. (DMPI) and its mobile brand Sun Cellular, SPI Global, ePLDT, Indofood, Philex Mining, Maynilad, MediaQuest, and TV5.

With P500-million funding over 5 years, the initiative is the largest private sector commitment for technology entrepreneurship in the Philippines.

- PR -