Manila, August 26, 2022—On August 19, the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines and QBO Innovation Hub concluded a short course program designed to guide aspiring Filipino entrepreneurs in developing their ideas into tech startups that contribute to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Philippines.
“BOOTQAMP: From Idea to Impact, a Sustainable Development Goals Innovation Challenge” was a 14-week program which trained ten participating teams in concepts related to techno-entrepreneurship, including customer identification, problem-centric ideation, social impact measurement, and the lean startup method. Participants also received one-on-one mentorship from industry specialists and attended virtual workshops facilitated by leading tech experts in the Philippines.
“The United States is committed to pursuing SDGs locally and internationally. Last year, we also worked with QBO on incubating Filipino startups working on technological responses to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said U.S. Embassy in the Philippines Deputy Public Engagement Attaché Pauline Anderson. “We are very pleased to continue our partnership to support social impact entrepreneurs delivering on SDGs through technology.”
“We are grateful to the U.S. Embassy for entrusting us with this project. This is the first program we conducted that is geared towards supporting startups addressing the SDGs,” said QBO Head of Startup Development Alwyn Joy Rosel. “Our startups worked so hard in validating their products and services, taking into account the learnings and insights they received from their mentors.”
Since 2018, the U.S. Embassy and QBO Philippines have conducted activities aimed at accelerating the local startup ecosystem through mentorship and networking. To date, more than 30 Filipino startups have benefitted from these techno-entrepreneurship programs and business incubation training.
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