During the Philippine Startup Week 2019, five young innovator groups were selected to represent the Philippines in the 2020 Youth Co: Lab Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A summit for young innovators in Asia-Pacific
After the 2019 Youth Social Innovation Lab held in the Benilde Hub of Innovation for Inclusion (HiFi), Manila, last November 18 to 19, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced its top five picks for young innovator groups. These selected groups will then represent the Philippines in the upcoming 2020 Youth Co: Lab Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Out of the 100 young Filipino innovators during the 2019 event, five groups were meticulously chosen by the UNDP based on the social impact and sustainability of their proposed projects. All selected participants are entitled to a slot in a competition against other fellow youth innovators all around the Asia-Pacific region.
Social Inclusion was the theme of the two-day event held at Benilde HiFi, which was participated by different group ages from15 to 30, including Senior High Schools, College students, and even fresh graduates, which are into start-up projects.
Philippine start-up week
The first-ever Philippine Start-up Week was a leap towards the recognition of rich ideas and concepts that Filipino young innovators possess, which are worthy of competing in overseas competitions. Filipino’s are known to be creative and innovative but just lack the needed support for their ideas to materialized and go to a commercial level.
The event was organized by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). During the event, Youth Co: Lab Philippines, made use of the opportunity to screen applicants with potential ideas for start-up projects, which will be sent as representatives for a huge gathering of youth innovators in Kuala Lumpur this 2020.
Among the five selected young innovator groups are the following:
- AccesiWheels: A ride-hailing app on mobile phones intended for persons with disabilities.
- Ethnicoco: A business that makes use of agricultural coconut waste to produce innovative high value-added products.
- Transkonek: Site for job opportunities specially made to cater to transgender people and people from the LGBTQ community.
- Project Ka-sama: A virtual learning app with mental health and counseling classes.
- Greenhows: A co-creation lab that compiles ideas of people from displaced communities through stories, environmental campaigns, and capacity building.
Youth Co: Lab was founded in 2017 by the UNDP and Citi Foundation to empower and invest in the youth for the accelerated implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
