What happens when you actually turn ideas into reality?
That’s exactly the question David Ongchoco wanted to answer when he graduated high school. David was passionate about technology and entrepreneurship, and his goal was to bring the Silicon Valley culture to the Philippines. Along with his team of passionate hustlers, he was able to turn his idea into a reality by organizing the first ever startup challenge for students in Metro Manila back in 2014. The organization he founded, YouthHack, has since grown into an international community of student startup organizations united by an advocacy to expose the youth to startups, technology, and entrepreneurship through localized programs and projects.
YouthHack’s founding chapter in Manila continues to develop projects and partner with other organizations to introduce more students to startups and technopreneurship.
On its 5th year, YouthHack Manila, along with the Department of Informations and Communications Technology (DICT), will be organizing the DICT-YouthHack MNL Startup Challenge 2018: High School Edition. It will be held at the Asian Institute of Management, Makati City from January 27-28, 2018. With the theme ‘Think Global, Act Local,’ the goal of the two-day event is to provide students a glimpse of the startup world.
Other partners include AIM for Innovation, Kickstart, Launchgarage, Ideaspace, SeaOil Foundation, Jollibee Foundation, Inc., and QBO-DTI. Media partners include Inquirer.
net, INQPOP!, TechShake and WHENINMANILA.COM.
The project aims to be both an incubator of ideation and avenue of awareness for the participants. Day 1 includes workshops by experienced entrepreneurs and investors providing a comprehensive hands-on experience on ideation, prototyping, and pitching. Day 2 will culminate the event with the participants getting to pitch their startup idea to a panel of judges.
Why should you join?
The Startup Challenge provides participants the opportunity to:
- Learn about startup culture and develop new interests in tech and entrepreneurship.
- Get to know local startups, hear their stories, and get involved.
- Network with like-minded individuals from different schools and backgrounds.
- Experience hacking and hustling for an idea with the potential to change the future.
If you are a high school student interested in learning more about startups, the DICT-YouthHack MNL Startup Challenge is definitely the perfect stepping stone for you.
You can learn more through the event website: www.startupchallenge2018.youthhack.net.
Applications are open to the public but only 60 teams will be accepted. The event is completely free of charge for the participants. Deadline for applications is on January 7, 2018.
For inquiries, email us at manila@youthhack.net.
