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Cebuana tech entrepreneurs to pitch in Singapore

“Seeing Cebuanas travel to Singapore for a global tech startup pitching event gives me enough satisfaction,” says Doris Isubal-Mongaya.

Mongaya, the founder and CEO of PRworks, talked about the Startup Weekend Cebu Women Edition participants who will get the chance to compete in an international arena as the business pitch event goes global this year. PRworks organized the event’s press launch.

“The endeavor is definitely worthy of support now, just like the first Startup Weekend in the Philippines way back in 2012,” said Mongaya.

For PRworks Inc., the Philippine Startup Community needs to be nurtured. It has to realize its full potential in accelerating growth of our developing country’s economy and uplift lives during the digital age, said Mongaya.

Uplifting women

“This edition is special. It focuses on uplifting women and we are also going global,” said Maryanne Apale, Lead Organizer of  Startup Weekend Cebu Women Edition.

Happening on September 27-29, 2019 at the KMC Solutions, IT Park, 54 hours, designers, developers, marketers, and startup enthusiasts will come together. They will pitch, build a prototype, present to a panel of judges, and possibly launch startups all in one weekend. A representative of the winning team will be flying to Singapore for free to compete with other teams.

“Last year’s women edition, the winning team had the chance to fly to Bali, Indonesia. They presented their winning idea to the participating countries in the Asia Pacific. This year, the event happens simultaneously worldwide and the final pitch will be in Singapore,” Apale added.

Startup Weekends

Remarkable women mentors such as Elaine Bernice, Laurice Chiongbian, Timmy de Jesus, Patricia Kyle Mendoza, and Bon Louie Gimarino will be helping the teams.

Startup Weekend Cebu is part of the Startup Weekend events that Techstars hold across cities around the world during the month of September. It  started because of the belief boosting entrepreneurship can sow the seeds for a better future. It encourages local initiatives that can have a huge global impact and foster more diversity and inclusion.

Over 4,000 Startup Weekends have been hosted in more than 1,400 cities, in 140 countries all over the world with 234,000+ global participants to date.

The event takes place with the support of KMC Solutions, Department of Trade and Industry, Payoneer, Picnic Health Philippines, Sole Searchin, Bubble Tea Station, Google Business Group-Cebu, Payruler, The Inspire Team, Symph, Startechup Inc, Qavalo, Mynimo, Aspace Cebu, The Company Cebu, PRWorks, Ambidextr Media, Ms. Carly Jasie, and the Third Team Media.

Value of Public Relations

Based on experiences and lessons in Boulder, Colorado, Brad Feld of TechStars pointed out that startup communities must have regular activities that involves all who wants to be involved.

In the Philippines, PRworks helped the organizers of the first Startup Weekend in 2012. Since then, the agency involved itself in various events especially in putting the spotlight on good things unfolding.

“The events, the relationships established, and the publicity are crucial to brand building, sales and enticing investors,” said Mongaya.

In 2013, the agency was a mainstay in the Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) annual series that placed country within the radar of the global startup community and shaped the Philippine Startup Road Map.

For more information, you can contact Startup Weekend Cebu at 0917 779 9605 or via email at [email protected]. You can also visit their Facebook @swc or website http://communities.techstars.com/philippines/cebu/startup-weekend/15039.