Gobi-Core Philippines celebrates founders during Philippine Startup Week 2023
Gobi-Core Philippines, along with their government and business partners, hosted and spoke at various events held during the much-awaited Philippine Startup Week 2023 held from November 20 to 24, 2023.
During this week, Gobi launched the highly-anticipated ecosystem report entitled Philippine Startup Ecosystem Report: Founders Editionfeaturing insights on our country’s top startup founders. Now with over 1,000+ downloads and 500,000+ impressions in less than a month, this report serves as a benchmark for several key ecosystem enablers ranging from venture capital firms, startup founders, government agencies and technology business incubators (TBIs) across the country.
In photo: Carlo Chen-Delantar
Gobi-Core Philippines was first represented during the Opening Ceremony by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) last November 20, 2023 of the startup conference through a speech by Founding Partner Carlo Chen-Delantar. In his talk, he unveiled The Philippine Startup Ecosystem Report: Founder’s Edition and went on to share insights on the state of talents in the Philippine startup landscape. Furthermore, he concluded with “Let’s keep investing in the Philippines. They are the next global game-changers.”
On the same night, Gobi-Core Philippines and Alibaba Cloud held the first night-fest of the week called the Founder’s Night held at Brick & Mortar BGC. The night started with opening remarks by Tess Xian of Alibaba Cloud. From there, Carlo-Chen Delantar presented the current state of Filipino founders and insights like what Filipino founders’ strengths & weaknesses are in terms of skills. Later, a panel discussion took place with speakers Phoebe Fontanilla of Gobi-Core Philippines, Kimberly Yao of CloudEats, and Anton Mauricio of the National Development Company (NDC). Topics discussed included the growth of the local startup ecosystem, the journey of startup founders, government investments in startups, and other pertinent subjects. Alibaba Cloud also took the opportunity to present the Alibaba Cloud Startup Catalyst Program to the audience. Afterwards, the night ended with networking and drinks amongst participants.
In photo: Jaymes Shrimski
In partnership with National Development Company (NDC), a Media Workshop session was organized last November 21, 2023 at the Philippine Innovation Hub to teach students and media personnel how to deliver startup news. The talk was hosted by Jaymes Shrimski, where he dived into different startup-related terms and the effects of media portrayal of events on the ecosystem. Given that the media can be a big propagator of misinterpretation when it comes to startup-related news, Gobi-Core Philippines saw the relevance in discussing this with the people with whom the news comes from. The event ended with a discussion amongst the participants on the local startup space.
In photo: Carlo Chen-Delantar with his co-panelists, photo credits to TBI Philippines Facebook
Simultaneously, Carlo Chen-Delantar joined the discussion on addressing the challenges faced by local startups during the National TBI Summit by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) held in Iloilo City. He highlighted the need for startups’ scalability, efficient fundraising, and strategic approaches to recruitment and marketing. Collaboration amongst the different players of the startup ecosystem were also mentioned as an important part of developing the space. As of now there are over 49 registered technology business incubators (TBIs) in the Philippines and Gobi-Core’s 2023 ecosystem report will serve as a benchmark for the development of founders and countryside development.
In photo: Jason Gaisano
Next in Gobi-Core’s line of events, Managing Partner, Jason Gaisano made an appearance at the 6th Annual Geeks on a Beach event by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), which is finally back after the pandemic. During this event that happened on November 24, 2023 at Bohol City, he delivered a Keynote Speech on the Founder’s Report.
In photo: Carlo Chen-Delantar
To cap off Gobi-Core’s’ involvement, Gobi-Core co-organizes Fiestartup 2023 – a homegrown initiative backed by DTI to celebrate the rising Cebu startup ecosystem. Representing the Gobi-Core team is Founding Partner, Carlo-Chen Delantar, who provided key insights on our growing ecosystem for our next generation of startup founders.
Gobi-Core's active participation in Philippine Startup Week marks a significant stride towards fostering innovation and collaboration within the dynamic startup ecosystem of the Philippines. As a dedicated supporter of entrepreneurship, Gobi-Core's engagement in this event exemplifies its commitment to nurturing emerging talents, fostering meaningful connections, and contributing to the growth of the local startup community. Through its partnership with several founders and government agencies including DTI, DOST, DICT, and NDC, Gobi-Core was able to organize events and provide resources that not only showcase its dedication to the region's entrepreneurial spirit but has also played a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape of innovation in the Philippines.
