Technopreneurs told to tap SMEs

CEBU, Philippines - Local startup technopreneurs are encouraged to tap the small and medium enterprises and share their technology and innovation to the local players.

This was a suggestion made by Ramon Clarete, senior adviser for United States Agency for International Development trade-related assistance for development project, saying most SMEs are now obliged to adopt updated and innovative technologies to thrive.

The Philippines, which is known as one of the top producers of good start-up companies and innovators, should fill in the gap between these two sectors, so that SMEs will be able to take advantage of local innovations.

Tina Amper, the founding organizer of "Geeks on a Beach" annual convention, which aims to promote the development of start-up companies and technopreneurship in the country, said that there are a lot of Filipino freelancers who are serving the international market, but local companies on the other hand are adopting technologies developed outside the Philippines.

Clarete said while the gap between the two sectors is apparent, Filipino startups should start to reach out to the SMEs which consists of over 90 percent of the Philippine business, and prove themselves that their innovations, services and products are worth paying for.

What the startup community in the Philippines should do is to create demand for their products and services within the local marketplace.

Already, International venture capitalists and techno-preneurs had been encouraging Filipino startups to heighten its confidence for growth, as the global investors for this kind of industry are now looking at the Southeast Asia including the Philippines as potential breeding ground.

"There is a lot of appetite of international venture capitalists to help startups, and the Philippines is one of the countries in southeast Asia that is being looked at," said Earl Valencia president of Idea Space.

Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Technology Office undersecretary Louis Napoleon C. Casambre, vowed to help the development of techno-preneurship in the Philippines, through implementing and supporting  programs geared to empower talents to enter into the global opportunity in technology innovation business.

But, Amper said there is still a need to link between the start-up community in the Philippines and local SMEs.  (FREEMAN)