1337 Ventures hits the Philippines with its Alpha Startups programme

• 1337 working with govt and local partner Techtalks.ph for November debut
• Philippines aims to create 500 startups raising up to US$200mil in total funding by 2020

KUALA Lumpur-headquartered 1337 Ventures said it is working with Department of Science & Technology Philippines to bring its Alpha Startups idea validation or ‘pre-accelerator’ programme to the Philippines.
 
Alpha Startups Cebu will be one of the building blocks of the Philippine startup roadmap that was authored by Senator Paolo ‘Bam’ Aquino, which aims to create 500 Filipino startups raising up to US$200 million of total funding by 2020, 1337 Ventures said in a statement.
 
“The Alpha Startup Bootcamp will help early stage startups get off the ground by teaching them the basics of building a digital business,” said Monchito Ibrahim, deputy executive director of the ICT Office at Department of Science and Technology Philippines.
 
“This is a gap we currently see in the Philippine startup ecosystem that this initiative will help address,” he said in the statement issued by 1337 Ventures.
 
The first edition kicks off in Cebu from Nov 9-13, said 1337 Ventures, pronounced ‘leet ventures.’
 
Existing startups as well as those with new business ideas are welcome to apply for the inaugural class, the company added.
 
“We have always viewed the Philippines as a lucrative market to launch a startup. It has a large unbanked population, one of the biggest inbound transactions, and great talent,” said 1337 Ventures chief executive officer Bikesh Lakhmichand.
 
“This programme will greatly help Philippine entrepreneurs as well as all others within our Alpha Startups alumni as it puts them on a global footing to potentially work together, and have a greater geographical presence,” he added.
 
Alpha Startups provides resources, potential funding and tech support, while nurturing startups and entrepreneurs them with business knowledge and decision making skills, 1337 Ventures said in its statement.
 
The programme can help transform a startup’s early raw idea into a minimal viable product (MVP) where it is good for an initial market launch, the company said.
 
“The programme was invaluable to me in strengthening our value proposition and structuring our thoughts into a pitch deck,” said Gigfairy founder Brian Foo.
 
“It was due to this that we raised our first round of investment in such a short time,” he added.
 
1337 Ventures will also be working with supporting partner Techtalks.ph in this inaugural Alpha Startups.
 
“We really love engaging with the local ecosystems as this supports the initiative of building communities within localities,” said Bikesh (pic), an inaugural DNA Digerati50.
 
Entrepreneurs will be exposed to a five-day intensive bootcamp from Nov 9-13, where 25 selected startups will get to test their ideas through customer and product development, undergo growth hacking, and learn the art of pitching.
 
Startups will get the chance to show their key learnings of the week at a demo day on Nov 13 that will be attended by investors, 1337 Ventures said.
 
Entrepreneurs registering for the pre-accelerator programme in November will have to submit a one-minute video pitch as an entry point. For more details, go to http://alphastartups.co.
 
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1337 launches Malaysia’s first pre-­accelerator programme
 
Digerati50: Out to shape the ecosystem
 
Two-man startup Gigfairy secures US$28K pre-seed funding
 
Joyful Frog makes the leap to the Philippines
 
 
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