Spring.ph breaks 50 software startups target, adds 7 new firms to LaunchPad

(From left, seated) PSIA board director and Spring.ph head Arup Maity, startup mentor Ma. Rosario "Ito" Gruet, and Spring.ph co-founder and Gurango Software CEO and CTO Joey Gurango are with founders of the new seven startup teams in the LaunchPad program.

By Tomas S. Noda III

April 18, 2016

The Software PRoducts Incubation Group (Spring.ph) in the Philippines has surpassed its goal of having 50 software startup teams this year for its LaunchPad program.

Spring.ph co-founder and head Arup Maity told DEALSTREETASIA that since Spring.ph was formed in August 2011 by the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), it has accumulated a total of 56 startup product teams, seven of which were newly-absorbed over the weekend.

“Our objective has been to bring the startups to ‘product market fit’ and help with growth hacking so they either make enough money on their own or get funding from others in the market,” Arup said.

Also read: Philippine govt launches first global ICT biz incubator hub

“The whole growth hacking is a funnel, how do you generate, refine to make it fatter so you end up with conversion, retention, and referrals,” he said. “Some teams are purely digitial like commercial apps and their focus is to drive traffic to the site, but some who are into the B2B space involves direct selling.”

PSIA’s goal in launching Sring.ph is to help make the Philippines a center for software product creation, innovation, and commercialization.

Currently, Spring.ph has more than 15 software product startups in the market, and some of these are Orchestrack, Pickld, MyConcierge, Spaceal, iCPA, LeanAsset, PerxClub, MakeApp, Tarkie, RaketPH, 199Jobs, Klaseko, and Cogito.

Also read: Philippines gives more time to startups: Arup Maity

“We might not yet have Unicorns but there are lots of Cockroaches surviving and moving forward over the years. All this thanks to our partner from DOST ICTO (seedPH), AIM (Asia Institute of Management) and several sponsors like Microsoft,” Arup said.

The seven newly-absorbed startup teams are Aling Nena (online grocery delivery), UncoverBugs (crowd sourced software testing platform), Duette (activity-based double dating mobile app), Tralulu (growth hacker platform), Juan To Invest (first local equity crowdfunding site), Beep a Ride (mobile platform for car rental business), and EnglishBox (English language learning mobile app in a gamified format).

Also read: Philippines: Narra Venture Capital targets fintech, edtech & healthtech startups

However, as to its previous target to achieve a recurring revenue of $1 million for its startups in the market, Arup explained they have shifted gears realizing it to be too high since Spring.ph is not into funding and making the startups scale purely under them would be tough.

“We have changed and accepted that to be too high to achieve, so step one is to focus on making them a viable and scalable business ready for funding. Once that happens with funding it can scale to the million dollar ARR,” he said.

Spring.ph was first launched by PSIA in 2011 as Product Development Special Interest Group (PD/SIG) which later changed in 2013 to its present name. It is meant to help the local software development industry create and commercialize at least 10 globally-recognized software products in various categories.

Also Read:

Philippines’ startup ecosystem faces several barriers, yet to take off: John Orrock, Future Now Ventures

Philippine tech startup roadmap guns for 500 startups with $2b valuation by 2020

SkyEye tops Impact Hub Manila, LBC Express mobility challenge

Kickstart, Plug and Play co-invest in PH mobile-first SaaS platform Squadzip

Kickstart invests in Cogito, takes portfolio in PH to 20 startups

PH: IdeaSpace opts for equity-free funding, opens 2016 startup contest

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW

Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW