Having increased its portfolio of startups to 22 in 2014, Philippine tech startup incubator and accelerator IdeaSpace Foundation Inc is gearing up for a more active role in the region this year.
The accelerator, which is part of the First Pacific group in the Philippines, has already invested in 29 countries since it started in March 2012. It plans to focus on creating a regional expansion ecosystem for startups in 2015.
For its regional strategy, IdeaSpace is setting up its goal in line with efforts to create a unified ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), a single trade market involving 10 member-nations namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
According to IdeaSpace president and co-founder Earl Martin Valencia, the AEC will create better market runway for technology startups to expand outside the Philippines and create new market opportunities for unique innovations developed in the country.”Our startups have the talent, the skills, and now the resources to make it big regionally and globally,” Valencia said.
Goldy Yancha, responsible for community development at IdeaSpace, says that the incubator has already invested P30 million or more than half-a-million dollars in about 10 Philippines-based companies in 2014.
The accelerator also held a 87 technoprenuership and social entrepreneurship events in 23 cities in 2014; about 20,000 people participated in these events.
IdeaSpace’s 22 startup portfolio include: ArthroLogic, BluLemons Gaming, FlipTrip, Date Cola, InternMe, SALt, MyChild, Nyfti, OrangeApps, PGRS, PinoyTravel, Portfolio MNL, R-TAP, SmartFleet, MobKard, TimeFree Innovations, Tudlo, Tactiles, Tambio, WattSmart, WeGen, and ZipMatch.