QBO's online conference empowers startups in the face of COVID-19
Speakers of the virtual
conference share different aspects of startup operations from remote global locations.
Photo credit: QBO Innovation Hub
Over
100 startup and technology leaders from 20 cities across the Philippines, other
parts of Southeast Asia, and the United States gathered together in a five-day
virtual training conference organized by QBO Innovation Hub together with the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST). The conference aims to elevate the capacities of Technology
Business Incubators (TBIs) in the country.
TBIs
are facilities that house startups and equip their business development. They
ensure the sustainability of the startup’s operation, the advancement of
entrepreneurs, and partnership of the startups with public sectors.
"During
this difficult time, the need to come together and work on solutions is placed
at the forefront of innovation. Now is the best time for us incubator managers
and technology leaders to help give birth to new startups and develop existing
ones,” shared QBO Operations Head Natasha Bautista.
DOST,
for its part, is keen on paving the road through tech-enabled assembly as it
aligns with the agency’s #RoadTo100Startups initiative to support the training
and development of startup industry leaders all over the country and enable a
rise in the number of Filipino startups.
DOST
Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit remarked, “We at the DOST, firmly
believe in the startups’ vital role in our nation’s future. With the right
support and resources, their capacities are limitless. We aim to empower them
and elevate their operations so they can remain at the forefront of innovation.
That’s why conferences like these are so important.”
Funding support for startups
Insights
from the conference focused on the creation of incubator programs, use of
creative marketing tools, planning of effective online campaigns, fostering of
startup engagement, development of incubators in university setting, and
garnering of stakeholder support especially during times of crisis.
In
light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, examining company values may prove
particularly apt. It’s during a crisis that startups who can provide solutions
may need more funding.
Innovative
startups will also need to know how to remain relevant. That’s why in a session
focusing on the best ways to generate buzz for a startup, tech media outlet e27
co-founder Thaddeus Koh encouraged startups to improve their public relations
tactics and invest in their relationship with the media as it will help drive
awareness for their brand. “PR is about telling the best story about someone
else,” explained Koh.
The
pandemic has also shown why there is a need for strong startup support and
funding. Early-stage venture fund and seed accelerator 500 Startups was
represented by Singapore Country Lead EE Ling Lim. According to her,
accelerators and incubators always make sure to ask startup founders about what
they want their startups to get out of their programs.
Lim
was joined by their Partnerships Director Thomas Jeng who bared that operations
require paying the bills, thus strong support is needed. “Accelerators and
incubators need to pay for staff and related expenses: grants, and stipends,
and entrepreneurs; office space and other overhead; marketing and PR for the
programs as well as ongoing events especially those that are trying to build
sustainable communities around entrepreneurship, ranging from demo days to
happy hours, to networking events,” he explained.
Working together to solve problems
Collaborations
are not only possible during crises but are also welcomed under normal
circumstances. This was highlighted by Plug and Play Tech Center’s Co-Founder
Jojo Flores, who talked about “Bridging the Startup-Corporate Gap.”
As
a large organization itself, Plug and Play Tech Center invests in around 200
early stage startups per year and works with over 400 large global networks.
“Corporations have accepted that a lot of new technologies, new ideas and
innovation is really happening outside their environment,” said Flores. “It’s
all about creating this platform whereby startups can collaborate with the
various stakeholders, whether corporations, VCs, etc.”
In
the Philippines, for example, startups step up to help combat COVID-19 through
collaborating with the private sector and the government. DOST, in collaboration with Developers
Connect, helped launch the RapidPass system where frontliners manning checkpoints
can easily inspect vehicles and individuals by scanning QR codes. Tech startup Senti is working closely with the Department of
Health (DOH) by providing the knowledge-base for the chatbots in DOH’s
different channels to address COVID-19-related inquiries while Multisys
developed the online and mobile platform StaySafe.ph which aims to help the government in
conducting efficient contact tracing. Limitless Lab, in partnership with The
Asia Foundation, developed LGU vs COVID PH, an easy-to-use, updated, and reliable
dashboard of all COVID-19 related information which LGUs can use and refer to.
Academes stepping up to develop startups
Collaboration
in the interest of innovation isn’t limited solely between corporations and
startups. Schools, for one, also definitely play a role in the innovation
ecosystem.
This
was the topic covered by Rick Rasmussen, an industry fellow at UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for
Entrepreneurship and Technology. During his session he explored not only the
evolution of incubator and accelerator programs but also the various ways
schools such as UC Berkeley mentor startups and foster environments that will
help them grow. Here, he cited examples such as Northwestern University’s
“Experiential Entrepreneurship Course” and UC Berkeley’s “Disrupt Berkeley” to
illustrate how academe collaborates with startups to enable their growth.
In “Disrupt Berkeley”, for instance,
Rasmussen details how that class covered the idea of social entrepreneurships.
“We talked about how you do mission-based interviews and goals, and identify
impact. We also covered problem-solution in social entrepreneurship mode.” It
was during this class that Rasmussen was able to guide his students to create
projects of their own that would solve various issues around campus.
It’s this sort of guidance that startups
can do with, especially in a challenging and unprecedented crisis such as the
COVID-19 pandemic. With schools playing their role in the startup ecosystem,
startups can look back on the values of social entrepreneurship and solving real-world
problems.
Apart
from the technical aspect of operations, the key takeaway from the training
conference is that there is a glimmer of hope even in tough times, the Filipino
startup community is still rallying and going strong. In fact, it may be them
that best ensures our country can have a future to look forward to, and so the
push by QBO and DOST to encourage the growth of Filipino startups is now
timelier than ever.
“There
is a need to support our startups now, more than ever,” concluded Bautista.
“Because startups and what they bring–digitalization, automation, speed–will be
what we need to keep going in the post COVID-world.”
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