MANILA, PHILIPPINES–While the Philippines ranks as the sixteenth most gender-equal nation in the world, according to a 2020 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum, there still are gaps in the male- dominated field that is the tech industry. A 2020 Philippine Startup Survey by PwC found that while 80 percent of startup founders who responded were male, only 20 percent were female.
Through its Startup Pinay program, which aims to foster a community of female-led tech startups through funding, mentorship, and exposure, QBO Innovation Hub (‘QBO’) has been actively promoting opportunities for women to lead in the startup community. To help take this program a step further, QBO has partnered with Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian Government that promotes women’s economic empowerment in South East Asia.
“At QBO, QLLABORATION as we like to call it, is at the core of what we do. Through our partnership with Investing in Women, we’re happy to share our plans to expand our Startup Pinay program and continue to grow our support for our country’s female founders,” said QBO Director Katrina Rausa Chan.
“We envision that this partnership will advance our goals to increase both leadership and participation in the highly lucrative tech startup sector among Filipinas, by directly tackling gender norms and pervasive attitudes in the industry that have historically held women back from achieving their full potential,” Chan added.
The three-year partnership with Investing in Women will significantly expand QBO’s Startup Pinay program—enabling QBO to take meaningful steps towards shifting gender norms, especially as it concerns the role of women as founders, workplace gender equality, and access to growth capital for women-owned and women-led enterprises in the Philippines.
“IW is excited to be working in partnership with QBO, as they work to shift gender norms to fully enable women’s meaningful participation in the tech startup space in the Philippines. Women are innovative, talented and ambitious to succeed as startup founders, but are often limited by traditional expectations of the roles they play at home, at work and in society,” said IW CEO Julia Newton-Howes. “We are also encouraged to see men in the QBO community acting as allies of women in the tech startup space,” she added.
To celebrate the launch, Startup Pinay Brunch: Women Taking the Lead was held virtually last September 25, 2020 that included a panel discussion among prominent women leaders. Panelists included Cathy Yap-Yang, Head of Corporate Communications of PLDT, and Minette Navarrete, President of Kickstart Ventures, moderated by Victoria Herrera, Head of Marketing at Kumu and Co-Founder of She Talks Asia. Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat of the Department of Tourism, delivered a message via video in support of the event.
Pinay founders also participated in guided group discussion sessions, which allowed for more in-depth conversations on topics such as the challenges female founders are facing in the industry and the types of role models startup founders look up to.
To cap off the session, QBO shared upcoming initiatives of Startup Pinay, which have been updated to provide further support for founders. The programs, which fall under three core actions—Exposure, Network, and Capacity Building—include sponsored participation in local and international conferences as well as the media, community meetups, and mentorship.
“We at QBO are incredibly excited about the opportunity to build a platform that helps our Pinay-led businesses to scale up and expand to new markets both here and beyond local borders. Pinays have had an indelible impact on social and economic spheres, and through our campaigns, we hope to inspire and continue to support the next generation of female leaders. Startup Pinay, as well as the innovations our women founders are creating, will undoubtedly have a huge impact on our country, and our future,” said Chan.
To learn more about Startup Pinay, head over to QBO’s website or follow them on their social media accounts at @QBOPhilippines. If you’re a tech founder yourself and want to be part of the Startup Pinay community, sign up through this link.
