A STARTUP from the Philippines was adjudged the most promising startup during the InnoVEX 2019 Conference held from May 29 to 31, 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan.

Antipara Exploration was among 11 Philippine companies that participated in the event.

The country’s participation was organized by the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and Philippine Trade and Investment Center (PTIC)-Taipei, in close partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB) and QBO Innovation Hub. A delegation of 11 local startups with Spring Valley Philippines exhibited at the Slingshot Philippines Pavilion at the exhibit.

The 11 startups were chosen from 40 applicants that offer innovative products from various fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, geospatial mapping, innovative housing solutions, cyber security, smart advertising and e-commerce, education, financial technology (fintech), logistics and data science-enabled market research.

The pavilion aimed to expose Philippine start-ups to the global market and showcase the country’s talent, ingenuity and strength as a budding start-up nation.

Also, PTIC-Taipei organized facility tours for the participating start-ups to various incubators and accelerators located in Taiwan. Among the facilities visited by the delegation were the Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy (IAPS) in Hsinzhu City and New Taipei City, and the Center of Innovation Accelerator in National Tsing Hua University.

The tours gave the start-ups a chance to learn, connect and partner with Taiwanese start-ups, and be part of the incubation programs offered by these facilities.

Moreover, four Philippine startups, including GYPSY, Antipara Exploration and Cryptors, were among the 10 start-ups handpicked to pitch their platforms on stage during the Investor Matchmaking session on the second day of the conference. These start-ups were chosen out of 467 startups that exhibited at InnoVEX.

The session was attended and judged by participating international investors and partners. Antipara Exploration will get exclusive assistance from Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA) and access to the Asia Pacific Accelerator Network (AAN) global partners.

The Global Demo Day  InnoVEX was also held on the last day of the conference to showcase selected start-ups from four exhibiting countries. Five Philippine start-ups and Spring Valley Technology and Innovation Hub presented their solutions, alongside start-ups from Canada, France and Poland.

Approximately 100 meetings were held between the start-ups and potential partners, incubators/accelerators and investors during the five-day delegation trip.