Open-data in the Philippines: best practices from disaster relief and transportation mapping
While attending Geeks on a Beach last month, we also spent some time in Manila to visit a few labs and agencies, and had several discussions on the state of open-data in the Philippines. Quick reminder: open-data is a recent trend for government, companies and institutions to release their datasets freely, so that users, developers, […]
A visit at Awesome Lab and By Implication, two creative agencies in Manila, Philippines
After the Geeks on a Beach conference in Cebu Island, I took some time to visit Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, and meet a few creative agencies there. Not expecting anything in particular and leaving wide open my radars, I visited two creative agencies – for sake of a better word – which […]
Coins.ph, a Bitcoin startup to reach the unbanked in the Philippines
While at tech conference Geeks on a Beach on Cebu Island, Philippines, we’ve met with Coins.ph founder Ron Hose, as well as a few other players of the local digital currencies scene. Even flying in to Cebu, a geek on the next seat was coding on his own bitcoin project. Light financial regulation + remittances […]
The Philippines and Social Enterprises: a future global hub?
A common trait of emerging markets lie in the high share of people living in the “base of the pyramid” (BoP), with less than $8 per day. Social enterprises are usually defined as “organisations that applies commercial strategies to maximise improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than maximising profits for external shareholders” (Wikipedia), and […]
The Philippines startup ecosystem: the tipping point of the "island frontier"
This first day of Geeks on a Beach 2 provided a lot of insights on the state of the Philippines startup ecosystem. Several panels addressed the topic of the country itself, and its position in the broader ASEAN region. Overall, speakers and discussions in the audience agree that it’s the right place and the right […]
Corporate innovation series #3: MEST incubator in Ghana
During the Mobile West Africa conference in Lagos, we’ve met with Neal Hansch, the managing director of the MEST incubator in Ghana. The program is a 24-month incubation for African startups, and its history is quite interesting as we explore the different forms of corporate innovation. MEST Incubator: training West Africa’s entrepreneurs on the long-run […]
Corporate innovation series #1: GE Garage in Lagos, Nigeria
What General Electric is doing in Nigeria with its GE Garage is not your typical corporate accelerator or even makerspace. It’s not an incubator, in the sense that there is no funding for younger entrepreneurs or a stake from GE in a startup’s equity. It’s more like an open Fablab, with GE employees around to […]
Malaysian Entrepreneurship: Market Analysis
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Facts: GDP – USD$303.5 billion (2012) GDP growth – 5.6% (2012) GDP breakdown – Services: 48.3% / Industry: 40.2% (2012) Inflation rate – 1.7% (2012) Pros: Proactive supportive government/ Highly successful startup history/ Able to take advantage of Singapore’s networks/ Cheap, well-connected regional hub Cons: Lack of global expansion/ Resource-based economy/ Singapore as a competitor/ […]
Why you should attend Geeks on a Beach in the Philippines
We’ve been preparing carefully the year #2 of our world tour of startups in the emerging markets, and are enthusiastic that it will begin by Geeks on a Beach, the Philippines main tech event. As you know, we’re fond of digging into each visited country’s demographic and economic stats and why they are amazing […]
A guided tour of CC Hub Nigeria in Lagos
As we explored the startup scene of Nigeria in Lagos, we could not miss the prominent role of the Co-Creation Hub, also known as CC Hub Nigeria. Most people we had met the days before at the Mobile West Africa conference referred to it as the central piece of this nascent ecosystem. So after the […]
