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Welcome to the « island frontier » of Asia
With the 100 millionth Filipino born in July 2014, the 2nd fastest growing economy in Asia after China, and a melting pot of cultures at the crossroads of South-East Asia, the US, and the Pacific, the Philippines Startup Scene is quite hot.
As we attended the 2nd edition of Geeks on a Beach, the top tech event of the archipelago, all attendees were almost surprised the ecosystem could have grown so fast in so little time. Most will admit than « two years ago, there was nothing here ».
Since then, investors (Kickstart, Ideaspace), angels, and even the government through the launch of the Negosyo Centers or a startup bill in the making, complete an already very active scene built by the community and a few high-level foreign founders, such as Bowei Gai (World Startup Wiki) or Ron Hose (Coins.ph).
On a broader scale, the Philippines will reach 145 million population by 2050, and should then be the 16th largest economy in the world.
With a lot of challenges, from infrastructure to education, and with already a lot of assets – a huge diaspora, an English speaking population, and the coveted title of Selfie capital of the world – the Philippines Startup Scene is poised to become very attractive in South-East Asia.
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PROS
- 2nd fastest growing economy in Asia in 2013
- IT is the biggest export of the country
- At the crossroads of the Latin, American and Asian culture
- A leading place for innovation for emerging markets, from social enterprise to Bitcoins
- Extremely social media friendly country (selfie capital of the world)
- Huge diaspora of 12m people (out of 100m Filipinos overall), with $24bn remittances yearly
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CONS
- A land of inequality: the top 40 families control 76% of the GDP
- High level of cronyism and corruption
- 25m people living with less than a dollar a day, no improvement on the poverty rate between 2006 and 2012
- Poor infrastructure (banking, energy, internet)
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TOP STARTUPS IN PHILIPPINES
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Coins.ph is the leading Bitcoin exchange in the Philippines (now also available in other markets in South-East Asia)
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Kalibrr is an online job portal that aims to transform the way candidates find jobs and companies hire talent
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Payroll Hero eliminates the hassle from user’s payroll process
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MetroDeal is an online market that provides users with the best deals on the best things to do, see, eat, and buy in the user’s city
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Morphlabs – a platform delivering cloud infrastructure to maximize productivity for network administrators and software developers
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Lenddo is the world’s first online platform that helps users to build their creditworthiness and access local financial services
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TOP PEOPLE TO KNOW IN PHILIPPINES
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Ron Hose
CEO and Founder
Coins.ph
Now leading the bitcoin revolution for the unbanked in Philippines with Coins.ph
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Tina Amper
Founder
TechTalks.ph
Startup ecosystem builder and community organizer. Founder of Techtalks.ph, a community of business, technology, and startup enthusiasts
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Paul Rivera
CEO
Kalibrr
Co-founder and CEO of Kalibrr, the first Philippines startup to get accepted into Y Combinator
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Christian Besler
Co-Founder
Manila Angels
Co-founder of Kickstart Ventures, Manila Angels and MobileMonday Manila
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Earl Valencia
President and Co-Founder
IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc.
President and Co-Founder of the IdeaSpace Foundation, Smart Communications VP for Corp Dev and Innovation
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Karl Satinitigan
Programs Director
Office of Senator Bam Aquino
Programs Director at the Office of Senator Bam Aquino, a social entrepreneur turned pro-digital politician
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PHILIPPINES
| GDP (in billions USD): | 290 |
| GDP per capita (in USD): | 2,913 |
| Population: | 100,617,630 |
| Population in 2050 (est.): | 171,964,192 |
| Internet Penetration: | 41.1 % |
| Mobile Penetration: | 15 % |
| Banking Penetration: | 27 % |
| Credit Card Penetration: | 7 % |
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LINKS & RESOURCES
- The Philippines and Social Enterprises: a future global hub?
- Coins.ph, a Bitcoin startup to reach the unbanked in the Philippines
- A visit at Awesome Lab and By Implication, two creative agencies in Manila, Philippines
- The Philippines startup ecosystem: the tipping point of the “island frontier”
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