10 startups to get P1 million each in support from IdeaSpace Foundation

Ten tech startups, including a Filipino-themed mobile gaming studio and a foldable bicycle, won the second IdeaSpace competition on Thursday, earning them P1 million each in funding and support.

Out of  17 startups in the final round of the competition of Philippine-based incubator and accelerator IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc., the following will get P500,000 in cash and an allowance for training and services:

• BluLemons (Dasmarinas, Cavite)  - A Filipino-themed mobile gaming studio
• FlipTrip.ph (Taguig) - Online Philippine travel platform for itinerary customization and booking
• MyChild (Quezon City) - An online and mobile platform for parents and schools to work together to make a child succeed
• Nyfti (Manila) - A 3-fold bicycle that you can take anywhere
• R-TAP (Quezon City) - Real-time pump controller for efficient water distribution
• SALt (Lipa City) - Sustainable alternative lighting solutions powered by water and table salt
• Tactiles  (Laguna) - Hardware kit for basic electronics education
• Tambio  (Manila/ Quezon City) - All raffles in one app
• SmartFleet (Makati/ Caloocan/ Paranaque) - Technology platform enabling transport fleets with operations automation, booking, and analytics solutions
• WattSmart (Pasig/ Quezon City) - Online energy audit solution to help monitor electricity use in real time

Apart from funding and support, the winners will be provided with office space in Makati, according to a press release sent to GMA News Online over the weekend.

The incubator will also provide housing for teams from outside Manila.

Support for other finalists

The seven teams that were not chosen may still get some support from IdeaSpace.

"A number of them are technologies we've seen adopted many years ago so dapat i-level up lang nila yun, pantayan o kaya lagpasan yung technology na nadevelop na. Pero they're pointed in the right direction, so we want to simply help them, mentor them so that they can improve on the solution that they have developed so far," said First Pacific group Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan in an interview with the media on Thursday.

"The ideas are probably a little half-baked, but the country needs them," Pangilinan said during his speech. "We would revisit your applications for support," he added.

The runners-up worth revisiting are the following:

• iHarvest (Las Pinas) - the next generation paddy grain drying powered by solar energy
• iTravelPH (Batangas) - a GPS-based mobile solution that provides transit routes for smart traveling and commuting
• SupplyHub (Makati/Muntinlupa/Quezon City) - online business-to-business platform that connects buyers with suppliers nationwide
• ToGrocery (Muntinlupa/Quezon City) - an intuitive mobile solution for a quicker and simpler grocery shopping

Among last year's winners were bus reservation app Pinoy Travel, enterprise queueing solution Time Free, a company that produces knee implants for the Asian market Arthrologic, a job site dedicated to creatives PortfolioMNL, and a consumer rewards platform MobKard.

The finalists had to go through a two-month incubation program where they received an initial grant worth P100,000 and were mentored and trained to hone entrepreneurial skills, the press release said. — JDS, GMA News