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BACOLOD CITY, November 7, 2025 (SDN) — Startups in the Philippines, obviously, are thriving through strong support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Consider this, the TBI Program since its inception in 2009 of the DOST through its Innovation Council, the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD), has already incubated 1,826 startups, private investments for startups at Php1.89 billion, and generated Php1.08 billion.

Anchored under the TBI Summit theme, “The Innovation Archipelago: Connecting Ecosystems, Expanding Horizons“, PCIEERD is optimistic the above-cited numbers will continue to climb as shown by the report of the TBIs’ on their startups’ successes and incubation achievements.

Untiringly available, Dr, Renato U. Solidum, Jr., secretary of the DOST, opened the 9th National TBI Summit with the assurance of continued support amid over 400 participants present in the event “because we believe that startups should be nurtured, supported, and recognized.”

The Philippines’ science chief noted that while startups maybe seen as small, they nonetheless “play a significant role in our country’s economic life by creating more jobs and innovations.”

While startups in the country are gaining grounds, there seems to be some more actions to be taken as the world is moving ahead, leaving the Philippines behind, Solidum’s remarks noted.

He was referring to the Global Startup Index (GSI) 2025 gathered by StartupBlink that shows the Philippines “has slipped four places, dropping from 60th in 2024 to 64th out of 100 countries.”

Solidum adds, “In Asia Pacific, we hold steady at 13th, but ‘steady’ is a polite word for standing still while others move forward.”

The country’s science chief, who was head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) before taking the reins of the DOST, on the other hand, cited areas that are holding fort for the local startup scene, such as the cities of Manila, the leading hub, and emerging Iloilo (Panay Island), Cauayan (Isabela province), and the municipality of Solana (Cagayan province).

He pointed out that while there are emerging startups in some places, it showed what has to be one for the country to climb to back. “If we are to rank up on the global stage, then we must look beyond one city and one center. The Philippine innovation is not Metro Manila alone. It is regional, it is plural, it is archipelagic.”

This is the reason, he says, why TBIs matter as “the levers that lift our local hubs to global visibility…scaffolds that take raw ideas from Iloilo, Cauayan, Bacolod, or Solana — and shape them into ventures that can stand toe-to-toe with competitors from Seoul, Tel Aviv.”

Solidum emphasized the vital role of TBIs in the region vis-a-vis the country’s climb back, meaning if the regional TBIs do not stay contented with their “provincial status” but instead strive to claim their seats at the world’s table.

Obviously, for any undertaking, especially of a big magnitude, alliances are crucial for success. And the DOST has not been remiss, through its partnerships with higher education instittutions (HEI) and state unversities and colleges (SUCs) as startups need to be nurtured, mentored, and backed by investors.

“We carried this model further through the Higher Education Institutions Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship, or HEIRIT, program, which does not just train people but toughens them — preparing academic leaders to become stewards of the next generation of incubators,” the DOST chief points out.

So far, he added, funding from the DOST via PCIEERD’s HEIRIT had amounted to Php531 million provided to 59 (only 39 in 2022) TBIs nationwide, as he revealed that this generated 5,576 jobs that translated to 5,576 families with food on the table.

And more numbers that celebrate the success of the TBIs.

“Php1.89 billion in private investments attracted means confidence — local and foreign — in the ingenuity of Filipinos. And Php1 billion in revenues earned means that ideas scribbled once on the backs of notebooks have grown into enterprises that now pay salaries, taxes, and give hope.”

The DOST lauded every TBI present at the four-day 1st National IMPACT Conference and 9th National TBI Summit, showing appreciation for their “hard work, dedication, and commitment to growing the Philippines’ startup environment.”

He did not miss to congratulate the Negros Island Region though the country’s youngest region has an active startup ecosystem.

Solidum also rattled off startup success stories churned out by the Hub for Innovation and Value Engineering at Technological University of the Philippines here in the City of Smiles, Bacolod, such as:  Plantsville Health; Ayo Biomedical Technologies; IF Green Technologies; Green Solution PH; and Gen-Sys Industrial Automation, which show that “incubation matters”.

Good and bad news for Philippine startups

The life cycle of startups in the country is not all roses, though, there are good news and bad, seemingly a reflection of people’s life cycle — ups and downs.

SDN – SciTech & Digital News learned about this from the Panel Presentation of PCIEERD Chief Science Research Specialist and Chief Technology Transfer Officer Ms. Russel M. Pili at the TBI Summit during which the good and the bad came out.

First, some of the good news, as she presented.

• DOST poured in Php254 million Grant Funds for 103 startups, with the top 5 recipients as National Capital Region (NCR), Region 10, Region 7, Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), and Region 11.
• 2025 — more cities — 59 — have active startup communities, only 39 in 2022.
• 474 startups reached Series A+ funding, 985 funded, 424 in Series B+ funding, 410 in Elite status.
• Ecosystem value, Manila is 4th with $6.33 billion in Southeast Asia and chasing No. Jakarta ($7.54 billion, Ho Chi Minh City, $7.74 billion, and Bangkok, $7.07 billion (via Startup Genome)
• Mindanao startup ecosystem making tremendous growth since 2022 to 2025, attracting investments and funding.
• Luzon startups secured the most significant support at Php102 million, but Mindanao not lagging behind at second place, Php64 million, then Visayas with Php44 million.
• Startup Regional Consortia received Php210 million funding from DOST.

And the bad news in the same presentation by PCIEERD’s Pili.

• As seen from the Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking, Philippines has steadily declined since 2021 all the way to 2025. Above the Filipino startup ecosystem — from the top — are Singapore (in a league all its own), Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Chasing the Philippines, though it’s still a bit far down, is Cambodia.
• Investment interest from universities declining on a yearly basis, perhaps one of the reasons for the country’s decline in its global position in ecosystem ranking.

In connection with this, Pili recommended to universities, TBIs, and startups in their sphere to “focus on what matters”, such as using funds to create investable startups, to nurture startups that can scale and exit, to develop more IPs (intellectual properties) tapping talent and knowledge, and to create environments & communities that are conducive to growth.

She also laid down six success factors measured in ecosystems that the triumvirate of Government & Private, Regional Consortia, and Universities and TBIs can draw upon, namely, Funding and Performance for Government & Private and Regional Consortia; Market Research for Regional Consortia; and Talent & Experience and Knowledge for Universities and TBIs.

The PCIEERD official also noted the importance of achieving and being ranked in the startup ecosystem which attracts investors, drives economic growth, increases deal flows, provides local employment, and creates jobs.

Thus, Pili challenged the representatives of universities and their TBIs in the more than 400 attendees to up their startup game to have a fighting chance to be ranked in the top of Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking.

“I am confident the Philippines can be at par with Vietnam, Thailand, even more because we did it ahead of them, if we can just put our acts together, focus on scaling, in less than three years we can transform the ecosystem from where we are now,” she says in an interview with select journalists. — EDD K. USMAN (©)

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The author

EDD, a native of Sub-Saharan Africa Buluan/Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, BARMM, college at UST, is a Manila-based journalist for over 40 years (33 years with Manila Bulletin), has five Media Awards (1 with University of the Philippines (UP) 2017 Science Journalism Award), covered and traveled over 40 times abroad), has contributed to Rappler, Business Mirror, Manila Business Insights, Panorama Magazine, Agriculture Magazine, and others, former Manila-based Foreign Correspondent of Saudi Arabia newspapers Saudi Gazette and Riyadh Daily, and The Peninsula (Qatar newspaper), with 2008 East-West Center (EWC) Journalism Seminar in the United States, 2000 Executive IT Seminar in Seoul, South Korea, with three Silver Awards in Photography, writes Muslim and Current Affairs, Enterprise, Science, Tech, Products Launch, and virtually everything under Heaven. (®)