PH moves up by a single notch in global startup rankings

StartupBlink, a startup ecosystem map and research center, has released its 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Index Report which showed that the Philippines moved up from its 53^rd rank in 2020 to 52^nd this year.

The new report is ranking the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities.

In the region, the Philippines ranked as the top 10th startup ecosystem in Asia. Metro Manila also improved to the 87^th from 86^th spot last year and now ranks among the 20 best startup ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region.

The second highest ranked city in the Philippines, Cebu, was the only ranked city in the Philippines that slipped in 2021, dropping 16 spots to 268th globally.

However, Cagayan de Oro jumped 87 spots to 493rd globally and is now the third highest ranked city in the Philippines. The country has a total of five cities in the index with the addition of Davao City at 786th spots and Baguio at 944^th place.

As for the vertical rankings, Manila ranked in the top 50 global ecosystems for Education Technology.

The report noted that the country has dozens of government programs to encourage entrepreneurship, including the QBO Innovation Hub and the P3 Program.

KMC, the largest co-working chain in the country, along with several startup incubation programs are also supporting the local startup ecosystem, joined by the largest co-working chain in the country and several startup incubation programs.

Strangely, the index reported Revolution Precrafted as “the county’s first billion-dollar startup”. The real estate startup, however, has been discredited and is now nowhere near its bloated valuation as multiple suppliers have sued it for non-payment of construction materials amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos.  

The list noted nonetheless that the Philippines is making progress toward becoming a formidable startup ecosystem in the Asia Pacific region.

“With interest from both international and local venture capitalists, the country has a promising future in terms of startup development. Nevertheless, the Philippines faces some challenges that stop the country from developing into a fully mature startup ecosystem. The lack of infrastructure is a limiting factor to the country’s economic growth, and entrepreneurs struggle with slow regulatory support for their startups,” it said.