In a country rich with opportunities like the Philippines, the startup industry is a great opportunity to create jobs and lift the Filipino identity as a “global wealth.”

This was the focus of the second annual SparkUp Summit, a conference on business, entrepreneurship, and innovation, led by SparkUp, BusinessWorld’s multimedia publication and platform for the Philippine business industry.

Held at the ABS-CBN Vertis Tent, Quezon City last Oct. 19, the 2nd SparkUp Summit 2019 gathered industry experts and entrepreneurs to share one’s knowledge and personal experiences on the progressive Philippine startup ecosystem with the theme, “The Bayanihan Ecosystem: Cultivating Philippine Startups.”

Some of the most renowned members of the local startup community—consisting of ‘founders, incubators, accelerators, venture capitalists, mentors, and the government’—gave a whole-day series of inspiring keynote speeches, educational sessions, and insightful panel discussions to encourage future business leaders and entrepreneurs.

A look at Filipinos and the startup industry

In his opening remarks, SparkUp Editor Santiago Arnaiz shared a few things he learned in the few years he covered the Philippine startup industry. 

The first of which is that the Philippines, and its startup scene in particular, is a global wealth of talent. 

“The role of the community is not Silicon Valley, but honestly, Silicon Valley is run by Filipino talent. If you look at the headquarters of Facebook, Twitter, all of the new and upcoming startups, you’ll find Filipinos—Filipino web developers, Filipino managers—abroad and globally,” Arnaiz said. 

Second, Arnaiz believes the Philippine startup community is very much alive and kicking by saying “While we’re a global wealth, we’re also an incredibly vibrant community with programs both from the private sector and the public sector.”

However, the SparkUp editor also shared that despite this, the community still needs some uplifting. “The Philippine startup community needs support. It needs people shining light on the initiatives happening locally.” 

He shared that is indeed what SparkUp is trying to do for the community—making spaces for those conversations.

“Startups are the next wave”

Meanwhile, Ideaspace Foundation’s President, QBO Innovation Hub’s Head, and Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation’s President Butch Meily gave the keynote address for the summit. 

In his speech, Meily shared the importance of startups saying that it is the next “wave” after outsourcing, remittances, and manufacturing, and called it the new power of the Philippine economy. 

“Things are changing fast. In the last year alone, the value of Philippine startups more than doubled. That’s with the help of a lot of people, including the government, including the private sector, including organizations like BusinessWorld and SparkUp,” Meily said, adding that the progress of the local startup scene helps the country grow and bring in more wealth and jobs for Filipinos.

After the keynote address, the conference went on with six more sessions of insightful talks from prominent industry chiefs, founders, and directors, and with two panel discussions before giving the attendees an opportunity to network with the invited speakers and fellow attendees alike.

Whether you’re businessman, an entrepreneur, a student, or even just an average Joe curious about business, entrepreneurship, and the local startup industry, the SparkUp summit ultimately shared relevant and useful information that will help in starting one’s own business.