For the second year in a row, Launchgarage, the Philippines’ premiere tech accelerator, has once again partnered with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation to host its second cohort for EXPAND Philippines, a structured 3-week market access program for Malaysian companies seeking to test and validate their products and services in the archipelago.
In collaboration with UnionBank, the consortium hosted their second Demo Day which featured six Malaysian companies and their products and services.
“We are happy to host MDEC and look forward to opportunities to enable foreign companies entering the Philippines. Through collaboration we can Tech Up the Philippines.” says Arvie de Vera, Senior Vice President and Head of the Fintech Business Group of UnionBank of The Philippines.
This year’s cohort is a collection of seasoned entrepreneurs running late-stage companies that underwent a month-long selection process, an intensive week of webinar sessions about the local ecosystem with mentors, online introductions to key stakeholders in their respective industries and an on-site immersion which comprises of deal flow facilitation between them and potential investors, clients and strategic partners in the Philippines.
On the heels of last year’s successful pilot, Jojo Flores, COO of Launchgarage, announced the 5-year partnership with MDEC which enables seamless cross-border collaboration as their exclusive partner running various market access programs during his welcoming speech. “We are proud to announce that we have inked an exclusive deal with our Malaysian counterparts to continue co-hosting these market access programs, which provides value and accelerates their validation process when entering the Philippine market.”, says Flores.
Keasavan Hari Krishnan, Market Engagement Lead, Growth Ecosystem Development of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), said, “The cross border collaboration between Launchgarage Philippines and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has created market access opportunities for Malaysian startups to expand their network and services to Philippines. This program would not have been possible without our partner, Launchgarage. MDEC is extremely honoured to have been part of these startups expansion into Philippines.”
The event was also graced by the presence of Hon. Arth Bryan Celeste, Mayor of Alaminos City, Pangasinan who cited that he is eager to integrate various projects from the crop of companies into his ecosystem and avail of services that would benefit his constituents.
The 2019 cohort features a diverse set of elite-tier companies which include: Persuasion Technologies, a business intelligence and marketing analytics servicing platform for retailers and e-commerce sites, CK Group, an Integrated Property Marketing Agency specializing in digital design solutions using the latest media and visualization technology, Sometime by Asian Designers, an e-commerce bag and accessories specialist company that co-designs with very select established Asian designers and icons to conceptualize and produce exclusive and iconic designer bags, NEXPlatform, a data-driven Proptech company that provides smart marketing solutions to help property developers digitalise their processes and improve customer experience, Accendo, a Talent Experience platform designed to help with deep people analytics and career pathing and SonicBoom, an all-in-one open payment terminal for parking, vending machines and retail stores. Our official media partner for the event is Ambidextr Media.