NDC eyed to provide funding for tech startups

The National Development Co. (NDC), the investment arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), may be tapped to put up a fund or support especially catering for the financing requirement of tech startups in the country.

DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez explained during a presscon for the Slingshot ASEAN Startup & Innovation Summit that while setting a fund could be the right approach to assisting startups than granting tax incentives, this could be the last resort as he cited several angel investors or venture capitalists from the private sector eager to invest in Philippine tech startups. NDC, an attached DTI agency, is a catalyst tasked to fund strategic projects.

Other countries like Germany have also their own funds by matching up the private sector investment.

“So we have to study to create a fund under NDC but that could come later because there are several angel investors who are very keen in our own tech startups,” he said noting that tech startups can also avail of the incentives under the listing Strategic Services of the Investment Priorities Plan.

Startups coach Arte Lopez said 20 venture capitalists from New York and Australia were already in the country looking forward to investing in Philippine tech startups. At least 200 local tech startups out of 500 have already been identified as active.

“Interest in the Philippines has been very high,” he said.

John R. Ason, who has been an angel investor for 17 years specializing in early stage pre-revenue companies, said that he has investments in 15 countries but the quality and scalabity of Philippine tech startups are a lot better in these countries.

Rainer Seider, unit head of the public enterprises of Berlin, said there are lots of interested impact investors from Berlin, which grants a match-up fund for their domestic startups.

Meantime, the Startup Asia Berlin (SUAB), the German-Asian startup platform that aims to enable the professionalization and direct cooperation between startup ecosystems of Berlin, Manila, Bangalore and Jakarta, is in the country as part of its Asian roadshow.

As its first stop, SUAB delegates participated at Slingshot ASEAN in a panel discussions and workshops.

The SUAB roadshow delegation is composed of eleven (11) participants from Berlin and five (5) participants from each of the partner ecosystems representing various sectors such as fintech, IoT (Internet of Things), digital health, 3D movie production, and social innovation, as well as coworking spaces, innovation hubs and incubators. The delegation will travel through Manila, Jakarta and Bangalore with a program of matchmaking, business visits, excursions and participation in various international start-up events and conferences.

The city of Berlin has 1,800-2,400 startups. It ranked 7th in the 2017 Global Startup Ecosystem Report.