September is a big month for the Startup community. As programs and events continue to take shape for the future of startups in the city, let’s give pause and take a look at what’s cooking on the side of Naga’s Startup community.
First off was the continuation of the Digital Innovation Hub’s Startup Roadshow. If you remember, the first roadshow event started off at the Ateneo de Naga University last June 29. This time, the DIH moves on to the University of Nueva Caceres on August 27, as part of its goal to further promote and stimulate the startup communities within the city’s universities. The roadshow was attended by students from the Colleges of Business & Accountancy, Engineering & Architecture, and Computer Studies.
After the Startup Roadshow event at the University of Nueva Caceres, as the spotlight on the Startup community grew ever larger, the group of startup founders and enablers decided to organize and create what essentially stands as the Naga City Startup Community last September 1. An organization where founders of local startups band together to help strengthen and shape the local startup community by providing an organization that is able to help support these efforts from up-and-coming startups all over the city.
With establishing organizations, we shouldn’t forget about the establishment of new projects too! As part of the growing environment of startup innovators and enthusiasts, the DICT – Region V through its ICT Industry Development Bureau (IIDB) and in partnership with BeeCall TBI, launched the STEP UP Project last September 2. The STEP UP project is an initiative where chosen startups from the Bicol region enter a 6-month mentoring program. This mentoring program aims to enrich and further strengthen the competitiveness of the chosen startups in such a vast and growing ecosystem.
The chosen startups for this project include Servisit, Gina, Dibit, E Medi Book, Doormie, Andale, Orange Country, PlayGig, and Dayaw Tech. The project envisions that the startups would be able to breathe new life into our economy and would be able to be the catalyst for technological breakthroughs in the country.
And for the last update on the matters of the startup community in the city, we have the Memorandum of Agreement signing that happened last September 7 between the City Government of Naga, through our esteemed Mayor Nelson Legacion, and Ateneo de Naga University through its President, Fr. Roberto Exequiel N. Rivera, S.J. The MOA aims to expand the Idea2Startup program outside of the College of Science and Engineering. The program will now span the Colleges of Business & Accountancy (CBA) and Computer Studies (CCS).
The startup community in Naga is growing by the minute. Innovations from various companies and groups are slowly taking shape and are impacting the technological and business spaces. It is great to see these groups flourish and help one another as it shows that at the end of the day, it isn’t just about turning a profit. It’s also about the innovations that they are able to bring to the table. The opportunity to disrupt the space and introduce something that no one has seen before. A chance to bring meaningful change in sectors that need it. And with these programs, projects, and initiatives that are taking place, Naga is the perfect staging group for this budding ecosystem. We cannot wait to see what’s next for the future of startups in the city.
(Words by Agnete Jonathan Noble, CEPPIO. Photos taken from DIH and DICT – Region V)
