The on-going pandemic gave rise to technology-based startups addressing local community problems experienced by Palawenos.
Aiding these thriving businesses is Palawan International Technology Business Incubator or PITBI, established in 2016 under the tripartite agreement between Palawan State University, Department of Science and Technology-Region 4B (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and MAD Incubator, a Malaysian company.
The goal according to Fheter John Calanday, PITBI Operations Manager is to assist local individual or team within the region who have the idea either technology base or inventions, that need to develop from market validation up to finding them a support from a network of investors that they have in PITBI with the help of QBO Philippines.
“Currently may 2 start-up companies na tayo na candidate for graduate sa ating incubation program, as they already gain traction and achieve financial liquidity. FAME and IT era technology solutions, we recently on boarded 12 new local start up incubates from agriculture, bio, IT, transportation, health, digital marketing & content, podcast network and a lot more,” Calanday said.
Having an app for your business since majority are online also requires big capital in order to start, hiring a developer plus subscription or buying a certain software plus customization may reach around P150k in a monthly basis, depending on what kind of solutions you are offering.
PITBI understand those kind of needs hats why they are offering their services for those who want to start small, several technical services with fees may follow later since they will also help you find funders and investors.
“One of the incubator can offer is access to funding, we provide linkages to possible investors, we are part of a larger start up network,” Vangie Tapar, OIC Manager and Project Leader of PITBI said.
PITBI has supported the following startups in the past two months: Gopalengke, unbrand, hakbangPH, HappyHive, bookvan, riveph, e-life, C19, EZPZ IT Solutions, Opus Tech, Iconik and Ifoodavenue. These Startups are set to for a virtual event in pitching up their products and services, for possible seed grant from PITBI.
Tapar added that aside from information and communications technology, they are also pushing Biotech, health and agritech which is essential for now. If you have a brilliant idea that can answer today’s problem, feel free to contact PITBI thru email address palawanitbi@psu.edu.ph.
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