Starting up the Philippine economy
Tough competition, uncertainty, and thrill are things that most entrepreneurs eat for breakfast.
To start a business from scratch is probably one of the most daunting tasks any person would dare to do, especially if the stakes are high. Startups are companies or projects undertaken by entrepreneurs to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. They are essentially companies in the initial stage of doing business, which normally requires funding from either internal sources, meaning from the founders’ own pocket, or external sources, meaning from outside financiers. Many young entrepreneurs and innovators from all over the world compete for funding in contests like “Hackathons,” where many private investors seek out the next big project that could rake in a big return of investment.
Here in the Philippines, a recent study showed that the local startup ecosystem is on the rise, with the country’s global ranking leaping to the top 53rd spot across the world. Just one place atop the Philippines was South Africa taking 52nd. The Metro Manila ecosystem was valued by the same study at 1.6 billion USD in 2020, a huge improvement from the past year’s recorded value which was 378 million USD. A bullish trend, which is likely to stick around, as 96% of startup founders remain confident about sustained expansion, revenue growth, and increase partnerships over the next years. The fact that the startup industry remained thriving as one of the healthier sectors of the Philippine economy amid the COVID-19 economic mishap attracts much public speculation. In fact, the first half of 2020 records 51.8 million USD worth in early-stage funding, way higher than the 37.8 million USD attained in the past year when the economic climate was generally doing a lot better. The curious reader might ask, “How?” The answer, “Technology.”
We are living in a revolutionary period where technological breakthroughs are radically changing the way we live. The Fintech mobile application, GCash — which allows users to pay bills, send money, buy load, shop online, invest in Mutual Funds, and so on — proves to be a reliable example. Prior to the pandemic, cashless payments remained a mere concept to most of its non-users. Now, at least in urbanized regions, it’s virtually everywhere, and it has changed the way we pay for our groceries, buy health insurance, and even get loans. Technology has also influenced aspects of social entrepreneurship, wherein a college student from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman was able to solve logistical issues of the food supply chain for not being accessible enough to the less fortunate. He increased market channels for farmers and consumers by establishing a common online platform named “Mayani.ph”. Moreover, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is reported to also give 43 million Philippine pesos in funding 14 startups for research & development.
With these developments, there is enough reason to be optimistic about the growth of the Philippine economy beyond our current peripheral.
