From the Ground Up

Through programmes like GAP under the initiative, QBO Innovation Hub, Katrina Rausa Chan helps Filipino startups be the engines of development and economic growth

- Christine Andas

Filipino start-ups can change the world. Katrina Rausa Chan, who was then IdeaSpace Foundation’s head of growth, strongly believed in the vision, along with other leaders from both the public and private sectors.

Through IdeaSpace Foundation, the pioneer of the country’s first major start-up accelerator programme who’s celebrating its 10th year anniversary this year, Chan and the team were able to support a group of around 10 to 15 ventures. Soon, word spread, and more applicants sought the support provided by the programme. “Each time we would open a call for applications, we would receive hundreds, in some cases, thousands of applicants from around the country. It was clear that many homegrown start-ups had innovative ideas worth developing, but that there was a need for greater support for the local start-up ecosystem as a whole,” Chan says.

So, they created QBO Innovation Hub (QBO), an extension with the same goal. The name QBO, derived from the Filipino name bahay kubo (a traditional house), symbolises hard work, ingenuity and collaboration. Traditionally, residents would come together to help move the nipa hut to a new area.