MAKATI CITY – Bridging networks for investors and startups, SYNAPSE: A Community Mixer Event was held on 24 March 2023 at the ABB Hall, National Development Company (NDC), Makati City. Spearheaded by the Startup Venture Fund (SVF) Investment Committee (IC), the event gathered five (5) accredited Co-investment Partners (CIPs) and eight (8) potential startup investees in the pursuit of forging collaborations in terms of financial and non-financial support mechanisms.

As member of the SVF IC, Department of Trade and Industry-Competitiveness Bureau (DTI-CB), represented by Assistant Director Jo-Dann Darong voiced his commitment and gratitude to NDC as well as to all CIPs and potential startup investees for their efforts to accelerate the Philippine Startup Ecosystem.

“Let this event mark the beginning of more deal flows for Philippine startups. In return, these startups can pay forward by inspiring and encouraging more future tech leaders”, Assistant Director Darong said.

Meanwhile, NDC General Manager (GM) and IC Chairman Antonilo Mauricio asserted the growing potential of the SVF ecosystem with a value of PHP8B already. As published in the Philippine Venture Capital Report for 2023 of Foxmont Capital Partners, the investments in Philippine startups have already exceeded USD1B for two consecutive years.

GM Mauricio also underscored the huge role of the CIPs in stimulating synergies within the ecosystem. “We need the help of our co-investment partners for shepherding and accelerating the startups to encourage them to work with us and keep things in track,” he emphasized.

The CIPs who attended the event include Gobi-Core PH Fund, ICCP SBI Venture Partners, Real Tech Holdings, Foxmont Capital Partners, and IdeaSpace Foundation which all showed their support by laying out their respective investment mechanisms for the new generation of entrepreneurs in the country.

To promote inclusivity, SYNAPSE was conducted in a hybrid setup allowing non-Metro Manila-based startups to join the networking session and e-meet with potential collaborators to seek more financing opportunities.

SVF is one of the incentives granted by the Innovative Startup Act (ISA) that adopts a co-investment model with selected investors in providing equity financing to qualified innovative and high-growth potential startups. Advancing forward, SVF IC, chaired by NDC with government and technical experts from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the Department of Finance (DOF), and the private sector, continuously evaluates more potential CIPs and actively searches for the future tech giants in the country.

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