Villgro Philippines supports the Davao Startup Week 2022’s 1st Mindanao Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Summit
It takes a village to raise an impact enterprise. To thrive and be able to create genuine impact, an enterprise needs an ecosystem that supports it from ideation to scaling up.
This is the ethos of the Davao Startup Week 2022: a week-long celebration of the start-up community in the Davao region that aims to mainstream home-grown start-ups, social enterprises, and MSMEs.
Spearheaded by the University of the Philippines Mindanao Growing and Developing Enterprises-Technology Business Incubation (UPGRADE-TBI) with the support of the Innovation and Development Accelerators Consortium for Startups in Davao Region (IDEAS-Davao), the start-up week conducted a series of events such as a hackathon, fora for innovators, and investors alike, an incubation summit, start-up exhibits, MSMEs start-up matching, and networking events.
Villgro Philippines, represented by its CEO, Priya Thachadi, was invited as one of the Keynote Speakers during the 1st Mindanao Technology Business Incubator (TBI) Summit held in the University of Mindanao Matina campus in Davao City on Saturday, August 13, 2022, to share learnings and best practices on impact investments in the Philippines.
In her keynote, Priya shared the Pipeline to Deal Pathway, which consisted of the Villgro Framework of combining Inspiration (community gatherings and activities such as hackathons and venture competitions), Incubation (accelerator programs, referrals, and co-incubation), and investment (direct and angel investments). Priya shared success stories from Villgro India and Villgro Philippines, such as Aravind Eye Care System and Green Habits Agri-Trading, respectively, that had grown their potential through the Villgro Framework.
For start-ups to be able to successfully cross the “valley of death” from the idea stage to scaling up, and therefore expanding their reach and perfecting their products or services, they would need access to inclusive and the appropriate amount of capital. Priya displayed that there was a “missing middle” in the types of capital offered for enterprises that need support during the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Seed, and Early Growth stages.
Priya explained that there is much work to be done to be able to provide catalytic grants, flexible debt options, and equity for the enterprises’ side while ensuring de-risking mechanisms for the investors’ side. For Villgro Philippines, de-risking mechanisms are implemented by providing mentorship and coaching, and tailor-fit technical assistance throughout its incubation support. Villgro Philippines is also helping address the gaps in impact investment through the Impact Pioneers Network, a community of angel investors that provides risk capital to test and validate business models.
However, a vital step towards an inclusive and locally accessible investment community, and a vibrant start-up community, is to work in harmony with other important stakeholders in the Philippine start-up ecosystem.
The 1st Mindanao TBI Summit invited representatives from iDEYA, the first TBI in Mindanao funded by the Department of Science and Technology Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) back in 2016, to share their journey in establishing themselves as an avenue for start-up community-building and technology-based business support. Priya also guided iDEYA when they participated in the gender-smart training for incubators and CSO SEED Business Readiness Program.
Representatives from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Region IX, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Region IX, respectively, attended the summit as well, notably DOST Regional Director Dr. Anthony Sales, DICT Regional Director Evamay Dela Rosa joined by Engr. Albert Gabriel. Both government agencies provided details on policies and programs being done and, in the pipeline, to institutionalize the Philippine start-up ecosystem.
As a stepping stone for further collaboration, as well as to end the summit, preliminary findings from the stakeholder mapping of the Davao start-up ecosystem were presented during the summit.
It takes a village to support an impact enterprise — one that also grows and evolves with the enterprise and is ready to meet enterprises where they are because it recognizes the value of holistic support. The 1st Mindanao TBI Summit showed that although the Philippine start-up ecosystem is young and we have a long way to go to establish ourselves regionally and globally, initiatives such as the Davao Startup Week prove that we are a force to be reckoned with.
About the author: Ina Morales is a Program Manager at Villgro Philippines. Connect with her on ina@villgrophilippines.org
