BPI Supports Young Social Entrepreneurs Thru 1st BPI Sinag Business Plan Competition

BPI Foundation, in collaboration with the Ateneo Center for Social Entrepreneurship (ACSENT) and BPI Family Ka-Negosyo, awarded young social entrepreneurs at the first ever BPI Sinag Pitch Day at the Alpha Tents in Makati City.

BPI Sinag is a business plan competition aimed at empowering young Filipino entrepreneurs with a social mission. Over 150 entries from around the Philippines were submitted to BPI Foundation, 40 of which were chosen to go through a Social Entrepreneurship Boot Camp and the best 10 going on to participate at the BPI Sinag Pitch Day.

On October 6, 2015, 10 finalists was given a chance to pitch their social enterprise business plans to a panel of judges consisting of Jim Ayala, social entrepreneur and founder of Hybrid Social Solutions Inc.; Josiah Go, Chairman and Chief Marketing Strategist of Mansmith and Fielders Inc.; Chit Juan, Founder of ECHOStore; Ramon Lopez, Go Negosyo Executive Director; Injap Sia, property developer and founder of Mang Inasal; and Mark Yu, CFO of SEAOIL Philippines.

The social entrepreneurs’ business plans were judged based on the following criteria: 20%, social impact and business model; 20%, market strategy and competitive analysis; 20, design and development plan; 20%, financial plan; 10%, management and organizational plan; and 10%, pitch presentation and summary of overall business plan.

Each of the top five finalists was awarded P200,000, a six-month mentorship, and access to the Ateneo Business Incubation Center. On top of this prize, the grand awardee also received P300,000. All the awardees will also be given access to financing options such as crowdfunding, debt and equity and venture philanthropy.

BPI Family Ka Negosyo granted each top five awardees P100,000 worth of advertising mileage via Facebook promoted posts, a Ka Negoyso credit line of up to P300,000, and a People’s Choice Awards worth P20,000 for the finalist with the most number of “likes” on Facebook.

The finalists who participated during the BPI Sinag pitch day are Kevin Philip Gayao of Agritech Mutual Laboratories (AGMULA); Herxilia Protacio and Ron Dizon of Bayani Brew Inc.; Asa Feinstein of CocoAsenso; Catherine Patacsil and Tajen Sui of First Harvest; Janine Mikaella Chiong and Allister Roy Chua of Habi Footwear Fabien Courteille; Paul Andrew Orpiada and Leciel Ramos of Karaw Craftventures; Winston Fopalan, M.D. of MicroMedics; Fabien Courteille of Plush & Play; Alvin Kingson Tan of Siglo; and Ryan Gersava of Virtualahan. The finalists come from various industries such as manufacturing and production, IT and business process outsourcing, health and wellness, and retail and trade.

BPI recognizes that social enterprises are one of the sustainable ways to engage and uplift those at the bottom of the pyramid, allowing for inclusive growth. It is the goal of BPI Sinag to encourage members of the private sector to participate in the development of social enterprises as a way to create jobs and provide basic services for those in the country that need it most.

“The way we do business should produce positive side effects—this isn’t simply taking a CSR approach. This requires a mindset that needs to be engrained in the way we function, in order for more people to become beneficiaries of the business—shareholders, clients, employees,” said BPI President and CEO Cezar P. Consing.

The BPI Sinag Pitch Day also included a discussion on how the public and private sectors how inclusive social development should enable the youth. The discussion panel included Chairman and CEO of Ayala Corporation Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, President and CEO of RFM Corporation Joey Concepcion, Professor of Economics and head of the USAID Trade-Related Assistance for Development (TRADE) Project Dr. Cielito Habito, DTI Undersecretary Zeny Maglaya and founder and CEO of AVA Online Group Oliver Segovia.

For more information on the 10 finalists and to learn more about BPI Sinag and its mission to discover, develop, and support young social entrepreneurs, visit sinag.bpifoundation.org.

Join the discussion and add BPI Sinag on Facebook www.facebook.com/bpisinag and Twitter twitter.com/bpisinag.