Developing grassroots innovation in the Philippines: A Digital Pilipinas Festival 2023 discussion

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In his first-ever State of the Nation Address in 2022, Philippine President Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos Jr. was firm that his administration wants to integrate breakthrough technologies in every aspect of Filipino lives.

Since then, many initiatives into this digital transformation plan by the Philippine government have been administered, such as boosting the country’s internet with 5G coverage and recently with the Department of Budget’s digital initiative—and with these ambitions come investments from around the world.

At the Digital Pilipinas Festival 2023 stage in SMX Aura in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, four investment experts weigh the attractiveness of the Philippines’ startups for foreign investors and what sets the Southeast Asian country apart from the rest of the world.

Chairman of Lumen Foundation and Lumen Global Sameer Mehta said they invest in the ideas and insights of talented people and companies that have already initiated an early-stage capital and, more importantly, a marketable product.

“The Philippines [hosts] a hundred million people. It has one of the youngest populations in Southeast Asia. It is still a developing economy,” Mehta pointed out. “There’s a lot of growth ahead of it…We think there will be an explosion of brands across all categories. We think there will be renewed pride [that’s] made in the Philippines for Filipinos.”

As a foreigner residing in the Philippines for about 14 years, Stefan Matthews, co-founder & executive chairman at nChain Group, takes pride in helping to digitize the Provincial Government of Bataan (PGB) and for bringing Block Dojo, a startup incubator program, into the country.

“The technology that we work with [has a] profound social impact…We’ve been working with the Provincial Government of Bataan with a blockchain-based solution there for the delivery of government services—again, social impact,” the nChain chairman said.

“For me, it’s like a colliding of the stars. To be blessed and working with and leading a company that is so deeply involved in the development of digital technology,” he added. “I made a commitment to Governor Garcia to build [Block Dojo] presence here in the Philippines for the Philippines to develop grassroots innovation.”

As of writing, Block Dojo Philippines, the regional arm of the Block Dojo in the United Kingdom, has concluded its five-day bootcamp in Bataan, training local startup companies to develop the foundational pieces of their products.

Industries with tremendous opportunities for investment

Shifting the conversation, Atty. Mark Gorriceta, managing partner at Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra (GorricetaLaw), who also moderated the panel discussion, looked at which sectors or industries have tremendous growth and potential for investment.

Answering Gorriceta’s question, Steve Tsao, general partner of Yolo Investments, sees a lot of inefficiencies in the Philippines, and two sectors they’re looking at are logistics and financial technologies. NDC’s Chief Innovation Officer, Jer Chen, remains agnostic with the topic, he shared that another investment-worthy sector is manufacturing.

In Gorriceta’s mind, food and beverage are essential industry matters; Mehta, who happens to work in this space because of the increasingly popular Pickup Coffee, remarked that
food and beverage are popular because these are basic needs.

“As an early-stage investor, I look for deep markets where you can build large businesses over seven to 10 years, and many food and beverage categories represent that,” Mehta said.

Lessons for the Philippines to become a premier investment hub

Wrapping the insightful conversations, the four investors peeked at ways the Philippines must adopt to become an investment hub.

Mehta said that companies and startups must focus on their own market and do well before venturing overseas. As for Matthews, promoting and cultivating innovation in the government and private is already happening in the country, and in order to encourage this to continue, private and public partnerships are a must.

Interested in learning more about the Digital Pilipinas Festival 2023? Check out our Day 1 and Day 2 recaps here.

Watch: Why the Philippines is the next startup hub in ASEAN