Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Unicorn Tech Startup A unicorn startup is a startup that hits a valuation or reaches a market cap of $1 billion (Gibbs, 2017; Lewan, 2019). The word unicorn signifies the rarity of the said startup since only few make it to reach such certain valuation (Gibbs, 2017). Stripe is an American payments technology company, founded by John and Patrick Collison, based in San Francisco that is now valued at $22.5 billion (Browne & Rooney, 2019). Big companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Lyft are just a few of the famous technology platforms that use Stripe as its payment system (Bloomberg Markets and Finance, 2018). Telegram is a messaging platform application company that was founded by Nikolai and Pavel Durov in London, United Kingdom. Telegram— known for being the most secure messaging platform—attained its unicorn status after garnering $1.7 billion in its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) (Trajkovska, 2019). BYJU’s - The Learning App (Think and Learn Private Ltd.) is an edtech company established by Byju Raveendran in Bangalore, India that is valued at $5.4 billion (Mishra & Chanchani, 2019). The app provides educational content that particularly focuses on Science and Mathematics for primary to secondary level students (Kumar, 2018). Stripe in U.S., Telegram in Europe, and BYJU’s in Asia reached the unicorn status by having its founders the entrepreneurial mindset—a mindset geared to be the next big thing (growth and expansion) and by having a conducive entrepreneurial ecosystem whilst addressing real-world problems and customer pain points. Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Carlos Barraza (2018) defined the term entrepreneurial ecosystem as the interaction of entrepreneurs and various institutions and organizations to support the development of startups being built up. Christian Schwarzkopf (2016) did a 360-degree holistic identification of all elements that can influence the entrepreneurial ecosystem by modeling and categorizing it into four circles—namely personal circle, private circle, educational circle, and public & business circle as shown in Figure 1 (see Appendix A). Each circle has its own group of ecosystem elements that “puts the entrepreneur in the center” of the said model as shown in Figure 1. Both direct and indirect influences contribute to the growth rate of an entrepreneurship. These elements in the ecosystem all support the overall success of the said entrepreneurship as an entrepreneur successfully equips him or herself up with elements across each circle. Utilizing the entrepreneurial ecosystem could also spell out the success of a certain business model. This explains why a certain business model might thrive successfully in a certain region but not in the other. Page 1 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz The Philippine Entrepreneurial Ecosystem A Closer Look at Cebu In a study conducted by Dr. Sheryl Satorre, she examined the tech startup ecosystem of Cebu City from March 2015 to March 2016. The study evaluated and assessed the tech startup ecosystem of the city and plotted it in an Ecosystem Canvas. The study assessed the vibrancy of the tech startup ecosystem of the city in the lens of four (4) elements—namely founding team, startup capability, support system, and external environment (Etcuban, Campanilla, Niñal, Satorre, Amores, & Cataraja, 2017). Founding Team The study lays out the demographics of technopreneur in Cebu City. Most are male, married, and ages 25 to 30 years old with a bachelor’s degree as one's highest educational attainment (Etcuban et al., 2017). The study also shows that majority of technopreneurs in Cebu City do technopreneurship with an end goal to “give back to the community” and sees it as a freedom to do their wants (Etcuban et al., 2017). The study also noted that the main obstacle to attain success in their technopreneurship is due to “personal challenges” (Etcuban et al., 2017). Startup Capability The study reveals that most tech startups in Cebu City are already operating for 3 to 5 years (Etcuban et al., 2017). The majority of the said startups are in the customer creation stage, bootstrapped, seeded, has less than four (4) founders, and has no more than 10 employees (Etcuban et al., 2017). Support System and External Environment As shown in Figure 2 (see Appendix A), the top 3 most evident support systems of tech startups in Cebu City come from “opportunities for engagement” such as meetups and conferences, followed by one’s advisors/mentors and entrepreneur leaders (Etcuban et al., 2017). The study greatly emphasized and criticized the little support coming from the government (Etcuban et al., 2017). In overall support system, Cebu City garnered a score of “less visible” support system (Etcuban et al., 2017). The study criticized the local infrastructures as one of the factors of startups' non-conduciveness as there was also no visible support from the local Cebu City government. Furthermore, although there are a various set of “business and technology communities that promote development at the grassroots level”, it is still lacking to induce growth and to rise to the next level (Satorre, 2016). As shown in Figure 3 (see Appendix A), universities in Cebu City show an adequate extent of support to startups needing help in strategy, resources, support infrastructure, entrepreneurship education, startup support, and evaluation (Etcuban et al., 2017). Page 2 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Current State Summary While the study, as shown in Figure 4 (see Appendix A), noted that the founding team has a passing mark in the context of tech startup ecosystem, Cebu City was still described as “less vibrant” ecosystem and will still need to lobby greatly for boosting their startup capability, support system, and external environment so that the city would be more conducive to startups (Etcuban et al., 2017). Philippine Data Elyssa Lopez (2019) reported that the Philippines has 106 million population with a median age of 24.4 where most of which are Internet-savvy. The country is also English-proficient; thus BPO prevailed in the country (Lopez, 2019). e27, an online portal for startup news, community, events, talent, and funding, published a report on the trends and numbers about startups in Southeast Asia. The 2018 report highlighted the “government investment” and BSP policies as the foundation of future growth of the country’s ecosystem (e27, 2019). Policies such as ease of business act was reported to be of great help in attracting investors and startups alike to venture into businesses (e27, 2019). The report counted 449 startups created/updated in 2018 which are represented across 38 industry verticals (e27, 2019). The report also averaged the deal size of startups at USD 14.5 million (e27, 2019). Zhixin Tan (2019) quoted Joji Philip that the fintech industry was the primary sector the Philippine government focused heavily on. Lopez (2019) also noted the significance of the recently-signed law which is the Innovative Start-up Act which aims to “support for tech start-ups”, “subsidize businesspermit applications, visa programmes for foreigners establishing start-ups in the country, and even investment funding”. In summary, PwC Philippines published a report that maps out, as shown in Figure 5 (see Appendix A), the milestones of the various elements in the Philippine ecosystem from 2005 to 2017 (PwC Philippines, 2017). Page 3 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz The SEA vs. Philippine Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Southeast Asian Data According to the same aforementioned e27 report, the Southeast East (SEA) region is enjoying a great amount of deals and investors from which an average deal size is estimated at about USD 37 million and “raised a total of USD 12.39 billion” (e27, 2019). SEA continues to indulge in the influx of investments because of the current market conditions. SEA market conditions—such as population, young and tech-savvy potential market, high percentage of mobile Internet penetration, and easily sourcing in a talented pool of technology builders—are already laid out “to enable startup success” (Moed, 2018; Workship, 2019). However, in 2018, the Philippines “lagged behind their Southeast Asian counterparts”, as shown in Figure 6 (see Appendix A), amounting to only USD 31.3 million worth of deals—a tenth of Indonesian startups (USD 2.93 billion), a third of Thailand startups (USD 114.6 million), and below Vietnam’s USD 39.9 million (Lopez, 2019). Philippines Vs. Indonesia Several literatures emphasized the incommensurability of the Philippines capability to produce unicorn startups against the number of successful startups in the country. Tan (2019) even compared the supposedly same level of obstacles of the Philippines with Indonesia as summarized in Figure 7 (see Appendix A). Philippine Startup Crawling Movement Burgos (2019) quoted Gregory Kittelson, an entrepreneur and angel investor, that the Philippines is an outlier among the SEA data and “Philippine startups lag behind rivals in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia”. Several literature pointed out similar issues and factors to consider. The Problem with Filipinos Kittelson, as quoted by Burgos (2019), says that the Philippines does not have a good international image. Natasha Bautista, head of operations at QBO Philippines, agrees with Kittelson as he said “investors backed out, maybe because of what our president had said, or fears of potential instability” (Lopez, 2019). Kittelson further said that the Filipinos have a “lower quality of work”, lower “level of ambition and professionalism”, demotivated “level of ambition and professionalism”, impatient, lacks the mindset to be a global player (Burgos, 2019). Lopez (2019) summarized the problem is that most Filipinos are inexperienced and aversed to entrepreneurship. Meaning, they rely more on the non-risky path which is to have a secured regular source of income by being an employee either in the Philippines or outside the country; rather than putting up their own businesses Page 4 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz (Venzon, 2019; Tan, 2019). The Philippine education system is still designed gearing more towards the service sector “rather than entrepreneurship or the creative economy” (Tan, 2019). The high rate of the country’s brain drain also contributes to the slow growth rate of the startups (Tan, 2019). The Supposed Mindset of Not Giving Up Lopez also quoted Minette Navarrete, president of Kickstart Ventures, that a typical Philippine startup gave up too soon when “investors stopped providing funding”. Moreover, Bautista criticized startup founders who seek mentorship from non-startup entrepreneurs; hence the traditional advice (Lopez, 2019). The Long-overdue Policies Moed (2018) noted that “regulatory hurdles” are also considered as barriers to entry. The Philippine legislative body and other policymakers “initially saw tech startups as SMEs”; therefore applying them to the “traditional business expectations (Lopez, 2019).” The few venture capitalists and angel investors in the startup hubs in the country also restricts the growth of the ecosystem as capital is one of the primary concerns of a new startup. Page 5 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Recommendations to Reach Philippine Tech Startup Unicorn Age PwC Philippines (2017) enumerated other essential elements to consider to propel growth of Startup Ecosystem, as shown in Figure 8 (see Appendix A), which are the needs for access to geographic markets, ability to get new customers, access to talent, ability to strengthen brand and reputation, sharing of risks, access to new/emerging technologies, ability to strengthen our innovation capabilities, and access to new industries. If these needs are fulfilled, the environment would then be more competitive and scalable. Etcuban et al. (2017) identified the presence of Internet infrastructure, research laboratory and innovation center, grassroot activities, funding and investments, education, and proper policies would significantly help and support the long overdue unicorns in the country (Etcuban et al., 2017). Making a similar ecosystem canvas like in Cebu City can significantly help the new entrants as the canvas will provide information on multiple ecosystem elements and can be seen fully in Table 1 (see Appendix B) (Satorre, 2016). Philippine startups should utilize the language strength of the workforce (Burgos, 2019). As mentioned a while ago, one of the Philippine’s official languages is English—which is coincidentally also a global language. This can be used as a leverage in creating market needs or addressing market needs that requires the English language. Education, for example, is one sector that can be turned into a business by utilizing the near-to-unlimited readily available talent pool. This not only lowers the buying power of your suppliers, but also creates an opportunity for business ventures. Abiel (2014) suggests that Philippine startups should not be afraid in following the examples of the west. As each place has its own taste/preference, needs, and wants. For example, instead of trying a new unproven startup idea, it might be better to start an already-proven idea then retranslate it into business—this time, in the Philippine or local market context or needs as there is no one size fits all in technology. This reduces your time to market and the risk of the idea’s marketability. The Philippine government should strive for predictability in its government so that investors will neither be having a hard time nor difficulties running their businesses (Venzon, 2019). Oftentimes when investors see an election drawing near and a higher probability that the candidate’s ideology is totally opposite of the current administration, chances are there could be several businesses suffering from the pullout that the investors will be doing because of the anticipated change; hence, in policies, consistency is the key. As quoted by Tan (2019), Katrina Rausa Chan, director of QBO Philippines, the government should encourage potential technopreneurs with success stories. Successful examples can then be granted grants and awards. This is to convince potential entrepreneurs and angel investors, alike, to invest in such an endeavor. The government should also continue to streamline its process in doing business with the government and review some of its policies that may affect or Page 6 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz hamper (Venzon, 2019). For example, foreign investments come pouring in after the BSP liberalization of its fintech regulations. Tan (2019) also enumerated an ideal startup ecosystem scene as “critical mass of entrepreneurship and startup activity”, “openness of the startup ecosystem and capital markets”, and “Possibility of profitable exits and corporate-startup partnerships”. Availability of a pool of talents required and a former brain drain that translates into reverse brain drain who will pioneer top companies in the country are few of the envisioned Philippine tech startup ecosystem. Tan (2019) also suggests “corporate-startup partnerships” wherein the existing large conglomerates can partner (“through acquisitions, buy-outs, and strategic investments”) with tech startups to fuel the local economy. Lastly, according to Justin Hall, a partner of Singapore-based venture capitalist Golden Gate Ventures, it will be more impactful to have “more pronounced support and mentorship by smart, institutional investors and angels” than “any legislation passed by the government” (Lopez, 2019). Page 7 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz References Abiel. (2014, June 22). Why Philippine Startups Should Not be Afraid of Copying Every Startups in the West? Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://extra.ph/2014/06/philippine-startups-afraid-copying-every-startupswest/ Barraza, C. (2018, October 1). What is an entrepreneurial ecosystem? Retrieved September 19, 2019, from https://www.barrazacarlos.com/entrepreneurialecosystem/ Bloomberg Markets and Finance. (2018, May 30). John & Patrick Collison on 'Bloomberg Studio 1.0'. Retrieved September 18, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUUko-q5RUo Browne, R., & Rooney, K. (2019, January 30). Stripe rides the online payments boom to a $22.5 billion valuation. Retrieved September 19, 2019, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/30/stripe-raises-100-million-from-tiger-globalat-22point5-billion-valuation.html Burgos, A. (2019, July 31). Why Philippine startups are lagging, but hope is on the horizon. Retrieved September 26, 2019, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/annalisaburgos/2019/07/31/why-philippinestartups-are-lagging-but-hope-is-on-the-horizon/#539e8eb33a27 e27. (2019). e27 Southeast Asia Startup Ecosystem Report 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://e27.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/e27Southeast-Asia-Startup-Ecosystem-Report-2018.pdf Etcuban, J. O., Campanilla, B. S., Niñal, M. M., Satorre, S. B., Amores, J. G., & Cataraja, G. S. (2017). Technology Startup Ecosystem in Cebu City, Page 8 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 September 28, 2019 1st Individual Paper Prof. Edison Cruz Philippines. Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 5(1). Retrieved September 27, 2019, from http://ejournals.ph/form/cite.php?id=13807 Gibbs, A. (2017, October 17). About building a unicorn. Retrieved September 17, 2019, from http://andygibbs.com/about-building-a-unicorn/ Kumar, K. (2018, March 21). Byju's targets Rs 1300 crore revenue next year. Retrieved September 19, 2019, from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/byjustargets-rs-1300-crore-revenue-next-year/articleshow/63397720.cms Lewan, A. (2019, April 28). Detroit now has 4 unicorn startup companies. Retrieved September 17, 2019, from https://www.bamboodetroit.com/blog/2019/4/28/detroit-now-has-4-unicornstartup-companies Lopez, E. (2019, September 16). No country for unicorns: why Philippine start-ups are struggling. Retrieved September 26, 2019, from https://www.scmp.com/print/week-asia/economics/article/3027171/no-countryunicorns-why-philippine-start-ups-are-struggling Mishra, D., & Chanchani, M. (2019, March 22). Byju’s value at $5.4bn via new $25m round. Retrieved September 19, 2019, from https://web.archive.org/web/20190404205614/https://economictimes.indiatime s.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/byjus-value-at-5-4bn-via-new-25mround/articleshow/68517172.cms Moed, J. (2018, July 12). A guide to Southeast Asia's thriving startup ecosystem. PwC Philippines. (2017). Off to a great start: The Philippine startup ecosystem. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from Page 9 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz https://www.pwc.com/ph/en/ceo-survey/2017/pwc-qbo-2017-philippinestartup-survey.pdf Satorre, S. (2016, December 14). Cebu City tech startup ecosystem canvas. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://www.techtalks.ph/blog/cebu-citytech-startup-ecosystem-canvas/ Schwarzkopf, C. (2016). Fostering innovation and entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial ecosystem and entrepreneurial fundamentals in the USA and Germany. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden Imprint Springer Gabler. Startup Genome. (2019, May 29). Global startup ecosystem report 2019 with new life sciences ecosystem ranking. Retrieved September 20, 2019, from https://startupgenome.com/all-reports Tan, Y. (2019, April 15). Startup Ecosystem in the Philippines. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from http://review.insignia.vc/2019/04/15/startup-ecosystem-in-thephilippines/ Tan, Z. (2019, July 5). What’s holding back the Philippines’ startup ecosystem? Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://kr-asia.com/whats-holding-backthe-philippines-startup-ecosystem techtalksph. (2016, December 14). Cebu City tech startup ecosystem by Dr. Sheryl Satorre. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://www.slideshare.net/techtalksph/cebu-city-tech-startup-ecosystem-bydr-sheryl-satorre Trajkovska, B. (2019, April 16). 27 European startups that have reached unicorn status. Retrieved September 19, 2019, from https://www.eustartups.com/2019/04/27-european-startups-that-have-reached-unicornstatus/ Page 10 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Venzon, C. (2019, April 15). Philippines chases neighbors in Southeast Asian unicorn race. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Startups/Philippines-chases-neighbors-inSoutheast-Asian-unicorn-race Workship. (2019, April 25). Inside the Southeast Asia startup ecosystem. Retrieved September 27, 2019, from https://workshiphq.com/southeast-asia-startupecosystem/ Page 11 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Appendix A. Figures Legends: ⬤ = entrepreneur characteristics ⬤ = framework elements ⬤ = persons ⬤ = institutions and companies ⬤ = new ecosystem elements ⬤ = social network element Figure 1. Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (Schwarzkopf, 2016) Page 12 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Figure 2. Local Startup Community Support (techtalksph, 2016) Page 13 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Figure 3. Entrepreneurship Support in Universities (techtalksph, 2016) Page 14 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Figure 4. Cebu City Startup Ecosystem (techtalksph, 2016) Page 15 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Figure 5. Philippine Startup Ecosystem Milestones (PwC Philippines, 2017) Page 16 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Figure 6. Philippine Venture Capital Investments in SEA as of 2018 (Venzon, 2019) Figure 7. Philippine Vs. Indonesian Startup Fruits (Tan, 2019) Page 17 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz Figure 8. Factors Driving M&A Deals and Partnerships (PwC Philippines, 2017) Page 18 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 September 28, 2019 1st Individual Paper Prof. Edison Cruz Appendix B. Tables Table 1. Cebu City Startup Ecosystem Canvas V1 (Satorre, 2014) 1. IDEA 1. INSPIRE 2. EDUCATE 3. VALIDATE a. Best Practices: a. Startup Media: Beginner knowledgeCentralized local sharing events. (i.e. information, listings, and beginner events that news. (i.e. startup blogs/ serve to educate more publications/ lists/ FB than inspirate, like 1 groups/ newsletters, Million Cups, Startup Startup Digest) Grind, Startup Founder 101, etc). a. Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching, like CoFoundersLab, FounderDating, and entrepreneur networking groups and events, “find a cofounder XXX”) @am_tins Accenture App Challenge Alpha Startups Bootcamp @daveove Cebu Digital Transformation Summit Cebu Meetups @dulcelada DOST-ICTO Philippine Startup Challenge Microsoft BizSpark @GeeksOnABeach Founders' Friday Startup Weekend Cebu @markjeee PSIA Launchpad Program @maxlimpag Smart SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards b. Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builderfocused events and resources) @swcebu Startup Weekend Cebu DevCon Philippines @techtalkscebu Student Innovation Cup Google Developers Group - Cebu @techtalks_ph TechTalks.PH Meetups InDinero's Independence Day Hackathon Kahlil corazo (twitter and medium) Smart DevNet Page 19 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz b. Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. b. Inspirational Events: (Ex. bootcamps and Open, inclusive, beginner comprehensive training startup events (i.e. programs, like Founder Startup Weekend, idea Institute, General fairs, and inspirational Assembly, Lean Startup meetups) Machine, code camps, etc) Cebu dot NET Alpha Startups Bootcamp Cebu Drupal Users Group Ideaspace Bootcamp Philippines Cebu Meetups Lean Startup 101 Bootcamp Cebu PHP Users Group Startup Cloud Camp Cebu UXD Startup Weekend Cebu Cebu Web Designers and Developers Student Innovation Cup Cebu Wordpress Joomla Drupal PHP MySQL CSS, HTML Community DevOps Founders' Friday Geeks on a Beach Google Business Group Cebu Google Developers Group - Cebu JavaScript Cebu JavaScript Ninjas Meteor Cebu PizzaPy Startup Weekend Cebu Student Innovation Cup TechTalks.PH Kapihan TechTalks.PH Meetups Page 20 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz 2. LAUNCH 1. START 2. DEVELOP 3. LAUNCH a. Seed Accelerators: a. Establish: Law firms & a. Formalize: Accounting, Seed funding mentor banks that specialize in development and HR for programs (Techstarshelping startups early-stage startups. style programs that provide funding) List resources here in alphabetical order, with links List resources here in alphabetical order, with links Ideaspace JFDI Asia b. Workspace: Coworking and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure) b. Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge Kickstart Ventures sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS, Startup Next, etc) Chromedia UPCeBuinIT Global Hub Serviced Offices, Inc. b. Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment) Regus Serviced Offices Alpha Startups Echelon Philippines GeeksOnABeach Ideaspace JFDI Asia Kickstart Ventures 3. GROWTH-STAGE 1. RECOGNITION 2. FUNDING 3. GROWTH Page 21 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 September 28, 2019 1st Individual Paper Prof. Edison Cruz a. Investor Networking: Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors vs. angels, venture capital associations, ) a. Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors a. Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale) Geeks on a Beach Ideaspace Cebu Business Park Geeks on a Plane Cebu IT Park b. Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond b. Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses, major local or regional publications with a business section) JFDI Asia b. Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale) Cebu Business Guide Kickstart Ventures 500 Startups Cebu Daily News Monk's Hill Ventures MyCebu.ph Plug & Play Tech Center TechTalks.PH Sun Star News The Freeman SUCCESS STORIES Caresharing iSkwelahan Nambal Codetoki KallFly Tudlo Disputch Co. MediFund Hoy! MiCab SUPPORTERS Page 22 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 1st Individual Paper 1. EVANGELISTS 2. GOVERNMENT a. Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies. (i.e. a. Public organizations Local leaders who have that facilitate local taken a leadership economic development position, speak at a lot of startup events, mentor all the programs, etc.) September 28, 2019 Prof. Edison Cruz 3. TALENT a. Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent. Albert Padin Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Dave Overton DOST- Information and Communications Technology Office b. Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs) Dulce Lada Department of Trade and Industry Cebu Institute of Technology-University (CIT-U) Fleire Castro Cebu Technological University (CTU) JP Bisson Southwestern University (SWU) Keith Lumanog University of Cebu (UC) Kenneth Ruelan University of the Philippines - Cebu (UPCebu) Mark Buenconsejo University of San Carlos (USC) Michael Raymond Martinez University of San JoseRecoletos (USJ-R) Rhett Jones University of the Visayas (UV) Rick Amores Timmy de Jesus c. Local Employers (Major technical employers with large local offices) Tina Amper 3AG Business Solutions, Page 23 of 24 King, Nyker Matthew C. TM 251 September 28, 2019 1st Individual Paper Prof. Edison Cruz Inc. Vince Loremia Accenture Wesley Chiongbian Advanced World Systems Inc. Alliance Software Inc. Arcanys Inc. Click Labs DNA Micro Outsourcing, Inc. Exist Software Labs. IBM Philippines Lexmark NCR Cebu Development Center, Inc. NEC Telecom Software Philippines, Inc. Nerubia Prime Software Symph Synacy Page 24 of 24