Budding Pinoy entreps find meeting place via Rakuten Viber
RAKUTEN Viber recently gathered budding Pinoy entrepreneurs at a meeting intended to enhance their side hustles and small businesses.
Lana Macapagal, Asia Pacific (APAC) PR Lead for Rakuten Viber, told reporters that its Dream Negosyo program gave Filipino entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their ideas to the top three participating entrepreneurs from the Raket PH and Foodph Viber channels. The winners will receive a business grant from Viber and its partners.
Moreover, she said, Raket PH serves as a Viber channel for MSME owners and side hustlers who want to promote their side businesses. Since its launching, Raket PH now has over 203,000 subscribers.
Food PH, on the other hand, is an online food channel that helps small and micro food entrepreneurs adapt to the “new normal” during the pandemic through contactless online purchases. Foodph eventually evolved through its bot, serving as a transaction point for buyers. The Food PH channel has grown significantly to attract over 560,000 subscribers.
She said Pinoy Dream Negosyo is in line with Rakuten Viber’s mission to educate, enable, and empower Filipino MSMES by giving them a platform to share their entrepreneurial journey and by providing business owners with the skills and the right tools to help implement their business plans and scale their business operations.
“Pinoy Dream Negosyo didn’t happen overnight. It is a byproduct of the team’s hard work to meet and answer the needs of the Filipinos back in 2020,” explained Macapagal. “When there was a surge in users and communities actively using Viber, we asked ourselves how we could help them further. That led us to our goal, which is to champion Filipino MSMES.”
Making MSME dreams a reality
MACAPAGAL stressed Pinoy Dream Negosyo opens the doors to MSMES who want to share their business journeys and acquire the knowledge and tools to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.
Pinoy Dream Negosyo has two categories, Raket Mo To and Da Best of Foodph.
At the event, three entrepreneurs from Raket PH and three from Food PH shared their stories to inspire other aspiring Filipino entrepreneurs by sharing their stories and pitching their final business ideas for a chance to receive a business grant from Viber and its partners.
In selecting the Grand BESTIE of Da Best Of Food PH, Viber sought the help of an esteemed panel of judges, including writer and editor Ruth Navarra-mayo, restaurateur and celebrity chef Gerick Manalo, and Rakuten Viber’s Business Development Manager Veronica Feleo.
For Raket Mo To of Raket PH, the panel of judges were Joseph Arnold De Guzman, Go Negosyo mentor and Chairman and CEO of First Food Link Distributors, Inc.; Jennivev “Nene” Tamayo-plamio, a celebrity mompreneur and one of the pioneer members of the
Grabexpress Madiskarteng Boss Club and Chris Aguilar, APAC Marketing Director for Rakuten Viber.
Chef Gerick Manalo praised the entrepreneurs during the event. “It was a privilege to get to know the participants and see them do their best as they take part in the Pinoy Dream Negosyo initiative of Viber.”
Another judge, mompreneur Nene Tamayo, thanked Viber for organizing Pinoy Dream Negosyo. “I think this competition is an amazing opportunity for Filipinos to showcase and grow their knowledge and business skills.”
Rakuten Viber’s Chris Aguilar, one of the judges for Raket Mo To, commended the finalists for sharing their stories. “To our finalists and the channel members of Foodph and Raketph, thank you for inspiring us. I’m hopeful that through your stories, Pinoy Dream Negosyo will continue to inspire more Filipinos to finally take that leap in pursuing their business dreams,” he said.