Sun.Star Cebu

LOOKING FOR HIRED HELP? THERE’S (ALMOST) AN APP FOR THAT

Team Hire Heroes PH, which won the Startup Weekend Women Edition pitching contest, is developing a mobile applicatio­n to make it easy to hire a house helper

- BY JOHANNA O. BAJENTING / Reporter @JOBajentin­g

Six women and one man from a startup team are out to prove this, as they develop a mobile applicatio­n where users can reach an accessible house helper with just a click.

“Team Hire Heroes PH is a platform for booking reliable and convenient household help to cut off the time looking for helpers,” Abigael Diez, 25, an applicatio­n developer and one of the members of the team, told SunStar Cebu.

The team won in the StartUp Weekend Women Edition in Cebu, where they met like-minded working profession­als who wanted to start their own business.

Startup Weekend is a 54-hour event where designers, developers, marketers and startup en- thusiasts gather to share ideas, form teams and launch startups. It is part of the Startup Weekend events held across cities in the Asia Pacific.

Around 35 individual­s participat­ed, but it was the idea of Diez and her teammates that stood out.

They were categorize­d under three types of participan­ts--hipsters for creatives, hustlers for entreprene­urs and hackers for web developers.

Breaking stereotype­s

Jazer Labuac, 30, a firmware engineer, said that the contest piqued her interest.

“In my line of work, it’s a male-dominated industry. I joined because I wanted to meet women like me and finally, we were given an outlet for our ideas,” she said.

Katrina Balmaceda, 35, who works as a content strategist for a company based in Singapore, said that she was curious about startups.

“I also write articles about startup companies, so it made me curious. I also started my own social media advertisin­g agency, so it’s the major reason why I joined,” she said.

In the activity, participan­ts were given five minutes to lobby their ideas and a minute to present it.

For 30-year-old Gama Comaingkin­g, who is a single mother and a freelancer, the idea of a mobile app to hire house helpers was personal.

“I have jobs for day and night so I don’t have time to do house chores. I employed stay-out maids but you have no control, especially if they would ask for cash advance and not return anymore,” she said.

Clint Estal, 26, also a web developer, said that they envisioned Team Hire Heroes PH to allow house helpers earn extra

 ?? SUNSTAR FOTO / AMPER CAMPAÑA ?? WINNING PITCH. Team Hire Heroes PH is composed of Tatiana Perez, Jazen Labuac, Clint Estal, Daphny Palaña, Gama Comaingkin­g, Katrina Balmaceda and Abigael Diez.
SUNSTAR FOTO / AMPER CAMPAÑA WINNING PITCH. Team Hire Heroes PH is composed of Tatiana Perez, Jazen Labuac, Clint Estal, Daphny Palaña, Gama Comaingkin­g, Katrina Balmaceda and Abigael Diez.

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