Philippines: May 2021

tech news from The Philippines

May 2021’s tech news round-up for The Philippines covers subjects including digital banking for the underserved, blockchain-based gaming’s social impact, the country’s e-government masterplan, the Startup Pinay initiative for women-led firms, and many more.

The tech headlines gathered below outline May 2021’s news, providing Startup News Asia’s readers with:

• an at-a-glance overview of the month’s Filipino tech news;
• instant insights into The Philippines’ startup ecosystem; and
• 1-click access to the online tech articles behind the headlines.

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• An intro to Buko Ventures angel investment fund, focused on pre-launch and pre-revenue startups
• A quick overview of the winners from the recent PH Startup Incubator Awards
• Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas launches QR Ph, the Philippines’ national QR code standard for digital payments, with PayMaya e-wallet the country’s first to adopt
• Download: Philippines – Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap 2020-2023 (pdf)
• Gov’t to establish National Center for AI Research, in support of recently-unveiled AI Roadmap
• Download: The Philippines E-Government Masterplan 2022 (pdf)
• An intro to PearlPay, providing end-to-end digital and banking services with a focus on the marginalized and underserved population
• Tech Week 2021 runs next week, May 17-22, around the theme of ‘Building Skills, Better Careers with Tech Communities’

• Rizal Commercial Banking Corp partners PayMongo digital payments firm to boost reach of financial products and services
• An intro to 2 of the 9 firms on the first Shell LiveWIRE Acceleration Program, working on sustainable paper products and biodegradable materials
• Community in rural Nueva Ecija comes together to earn an income in NFTs by playing Sky Mavis’ Axie Infinity, generating blockchain-based crypto rewards
• The latest edition of Startup Digest Philippines, in case you missed it
• Great Deals e-commerce firm raises $30M, with sights in part on construction of automated warehouse capable of handling a million transactions each day

• QBO Innovation Hub and US Embassy conclude InQbation incubation program, selecting gym-focused Team Fitscocery SaaS as highlight participant
• An intro to the Startup Pinay initiative from QBO, boosting exposure, networking and capacity for women-led firms
• Bayad bills payment firm gains central bank Electronic Money Issuer license, allowing users to soon be able to pay over 1000 different bills by app
• Download: The launch overview presentation for the eCommerce Philippine 2022 Roadmap (pdf)
• A video discussion of the startup scene in The Philippines
• A brief intro to Exora Source, artificial-intelligence-powered system assessing energy usage using historical and real-time data to bring user costs down
• A look at the 1Export Caravan platform, helping overseas Filipinos create and grow a reselling business, and boosting overseas access for domestic businesses