QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES – Batangas-based 3D-printing startup, Kezar3D, wins big at the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards Night nabbing both the People’s Choice Award and the Founder of the Year.
The awards night was held last November 14, 2019 at Launchgarage Innovation Hub. Kezar3D will be representing the Philippines against other national awardees in the regional stage of the competition to be held in Kuala Lumpur.
“This is really unexpected! I told my team that getting nominated alongside some established names in the Filipino startup community is an achievement on its own” Kezar3D Founder Edward Solicito said during the awards night. “I guess, in the end, Rice Bowl saw the huge potential impact of Kezar3D and they appreciated what our team has done is such short period of time”
Batangas-based Edward Solicito, who is a graduate of B.S. Industrial Engineer from FAITH Colleges Tanaun and M.S. Innovation and Business from the Asian Institute of Management, has been evangelizing the benefits of 3D-printing for over 2 years now. He believes that making this technology accessible to all Filipinos will result to more inventions and innovations coming from our country.
“Imagine a future where Filipino inventors or students or innovators just have to save their design in a flash drive, go to any mall and have their prototype done in a couple of days. That is the future that we are building towards!” Solicito explained.
Solicito also said that the award is a milestone, not just for their startup, but for other technopreneurs that reside outside Metro Manila.
“South Luzon is home for some of the most competent engineers, programmers, and designers in the country, but it has been really hard to create a startup there because majority of the investments are funneled through the metro!” Solicito mentioned. “We hope that this award brings more attention to outside metro manila areas, so that more tech companies be founded in our country!”
When asked about future plans for Kezar3D, Solicito tells of a very positive future for the Filipino startup ecosystem.
“We are on a verge of what I call a “Filipino Tech Renaissance”, a time where the gap between investments and Filipino entrepreneurs finally dissolves, and our team wants to be front and center when that happens! As per the Kezar3D team, we will continue to expand our reach, putting up 3D-printing kiosks all over the country. We will be setting up the 3 more sites next year!” Solicito excitedly said.
Edward Solicito and the Kezar team will be representing the Philippines in the regional stage of the competition this coming January 2020. We can support the Kezar3D team by going to tinyurl.com/votekezar and signing the form.
Kezar Atlas is part of the Kezar Innovations Group of Startups. You can check them out at facebook.com/kezarph or by visiting their website at kezar.co.
