Venture Capitalism and a new way to invest

The UP Investment Club held its first Smart Investing Summit entitled “Funding the Future 2016” (FTF 2016) last September 3 at the NISMED Auditorium, University of the Philippines, Diliman. With the goal of introducing startups and Venture Capitalism (VC) as the key contributors to the growth of the economy, the event attracted over 300 delegates from different colleges in Metro Manila.

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FTF 2016 was divided into three sessions. Carlo Valencia, KlaseKo CEO and founder, was the resource speaker for the first plenary. He provided an overview of startups as the “art of solving the 21st-century problems” to the event participants. Subsequently, Joan Yao headed the second plenary. With her experiences as the vice president of Kickstart Ventures, she presented several ways to build a startup and provided methods on how to make it successful.

Following the first two discussions, an activity called Moving Market was held for the participants. To unleash their innovative ideas and creativity in solving modern-day problems, the delegates were divided into groups of 10-15 members and were asked to conceptualize their own startups. Then, they were given the chance to present their ideas to the panel of judges from PaidUp, Dragonpay, and Acudeen Technologies, Inc. Constructive criticism and additional insights were given by the judges to help the participants improve their own potential business ideas.

With Brain Gain Network founder Paco Sandejas as the final speaker, the last plenary session mainly focused on measuring a startup’s success through the eyes of a Venture Capitalist. Afterwards, the Career Fair segment took place. During this period, the summit participants were given the opportunity to visit the booths of the various startups that they could invest in or even work for. The UP Investment Club partnered with PaidUp, Acudeen Technologies, Inc., Dragonpay, Conjugal Dictatorship, Shape Cloud, SkyEye, and Polar Comfort for this activity.

The summit was made possible by the organization’s sponsors: Philam Asset Management, Inc., First Metro Investment Corporation, and Pru Life U.K. It was also a huge success, thanks to its media partners: 2nd Opinion Magazine, ClickTheCity.com, WhenInManila.com, and DZUP1602; and its partner organizations: Miriam College Society of Junior Entrepreneurs, Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers, Philippine Society of Sanitary Engineers, Adamson University Junior Marketing Association, Far Eastern University Management Society, National University Junior Financial Executives, Bicol University Economics Society, Adamson University Enactus, ASEAN Youth Leaders’ Association (Philippines), University of the Philippines Los Baños Economics Society, Adamson University Junior Financial Executives, University of the Philippines Association of Business Administration Majors, Polytechnic University of the Philippines Junior Political Economist Guild, Ateneo De Manila University YE! PH, Polytechnic University of the Philippines Taguig Junior Marketing Association, and Promap Mapua.

“Funding the Future 2016” was also accredited by the Commission on Higher Education and the University of the Philippines School of Economics Student Council.

Text by Laine Marie Bringuelo