Filipino startups national finalists for Asean leg of global startup awards

Photo courtesy of the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards

MANILA, Philippines — Several Filipino startups have been selected as finalists at the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2019.

The ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2019, organized by New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF), seeks to “celebrate the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship of startups across Southeast Asia.”

The event is the Southeast Asian leg of the Global Startup Awards which is divided into three—national, regional and global.

Regional winners will represent Southeast Asia at the Global Startup Awards in 2020.

In the Philippines, the national finalists were announced last September 4 and includes the following:

Best Newcomer

• NanolabsLRC 
• Kezar3D 
• COCOTEL
• C-Estates
• Wizher

Best Coworking Space

• KMC Solutions
• 933 Co-working MNL

Best Fintech Startup

• Cashalo
• VESL

Best Foodtech/Agritech Startup

• UPROOT Urban Farms
• Agrabah Marketplace

Founder of the Year

• AIDE
• Sprout Solutions
• Kezar3D
• 1Export Trade and Services
• Drive

Investor of the Year

• Manila Angel Investors Network

Best AI Machine Learning Startup

• InMakers Lab
• HYBrain
• Burket

Best Life Helper

• Sakay.ph
• AIDE
• Kahon.ph
• HealthBlocks Inc.
• Kezar3D

Startup of the Year

• Trakaro
• Kumu Inc
• Sprout Solutions
• Edukasyon
• Drive

Best Accelerator or Incubator Program

• Innovation for Social Impact Partnership
• AIM – Dado Banatao Incubator
• QBO Innovation Hub

Best E-commerce & Supply Chain Startup

• 1Export Trade and Services
• Zeend.com
• Agrabah Marketplace
• Burket
• Last Mile

The ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2019 will announce the national winners for all 10 ASEAN countries this October.

Aside from the Philippines, other competing ASEAN countries include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In a statement, Shariza Abdullah, project director of ASEAN Rice Bowl Startups Awards, said the awards sought to recognize startups, or new companies, “that are solving local issues and ready to scale up.”

Nominations for the ASEAN Rice Bowl Awards started last May 27, with the official launch event held last June 19 in Malaysia./TSB