Ideas & Opportunities

The first-ever Startup Weekend event in Cebu offers opportunities for local startups in the Visayas region to network with founders and jointly pursue the most promising ideas. As Microsoft Philippines aims to further support local developers and startup entrepreneurs, the IT leader has once again collaborated with other major companies to sponsor and co-organize another Startup Weekend event, this time in Cebu.  Startup Weekend: Cebu (SWC) happens from May 11 to 13 at the University of the Philippines, Cebu.

Together with major event partner DOST-ICT Office and other sponsors like Globe, Kickstart, UP Cebu, and CebuinIT, Microsoft is supporting the 54-hour event that will allow IT professionals and participants to gather and share ideas, form teams, create business plans, build products and create startups.

Startup Weekend volunteer organizer Dave Overton of Symph, a design and development studio in Cebu, shared his insights on SWC. “Startup Weekend is about getting the right people together in the right room with the right ideas to be able to build something. And as we are seeing more Filipinos participate, we are making it possible to help turn great ideas into real businesses,” said Overton.

SWC is about learning from each other’s ideas and collaborating with passionate individuals to promote entrepreneurship in local communities. “Microsoft has always been a firm believer in the Filipinos’ true potential, and we are pleased to help bring Startup Weekend to the Visayas. We are glad to empower startups through free software technologies that will help small and medium businesses globally compete as well as to foster innovative companies across the nation,” said Alvin Gendrano, Director, Developer and Platform Group, Microsoft Philippines.

During the event, participants will be given the opportunity to focus on building an idea they have, often a web or mobile application that could form the bases of a credible business over the course of a weekend. A brainstorming session will take place where participants will be asked to build applications and develop a commercial case around them. This then will be presented to all the participants.

“As May is fast approaching, we are inviting developers in the Visayas region to join the event to build their networks, share ideas, and get access to valuable startup resources to help spark homegrown innovations” concluded Gendrano.

For those interested to join or to get more information about the event, visit www.cebu.startupweekend.org.