BPI awards grants to social entrepreneurs in Sinag Accelerate challenge

Written by Caesar Vallejos on

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BPI Sinag
Maricris L. San Diego, Executive Director, BPI Foundation

Caesar Vallejos, Eagle News Service

Ten new social enterprises with innovative ideas that help uplift Filipino communities have been awarded by the Bank of the Philippine Islands through the BPI Foundation’s Sinag Accelerate platform with P100K to P500K grants at the Sinag Awards 2018 held at the Ayala Banquet Hall of the Makati Sports Club last September 21, 2018.

Maricris L. San Diego, executive director of BPI Foundation said that the program, now on its 4th year has “deepened impact by engaging with new social enterprises deliberately reaching out to those in the agribusiness, healthcare, energy and education sectors.”

Explaining the theme, “Harnessing Technology in the Social Enterprise Landscape,” San Diego cited global thinkers saying that “we are on the brink of a new industrial revolution, its exponential velocity and scale are like anything that humankind has never seen before.”

“Automation is giving us new ways to drive efficiencies but at the cost of giving employment to the blue-collar workers representing 70% of the Philippine labor force,” she said.

BPI Sinag
Cezar P. Consing, BPI President

“What is truly remarkable to us at BPI Foundation is that, together with the hardware and software, are the innovations in moralware – our ability to serve and uplift our brothers and sisters left behind,” San Diego emphasized.

She hoped that “the BPI Sinag lessons be your GPS, proposing routes, advising roadblocks, and helping you find your way.”

Out of 150 applications, BPI chose the Top 40 finalists and shortlisted the Top 20 for its September bootcamp for a deep-dive on enterprise operations and business planning pitching.

Winners

The Top 10 social enterprises awarded with the following grants are as follows:

Top 5 (P500K Grant)

  • Uproot Urban Farms
  • Saret Organic Farmville
  • Palamigan Co.
  • Junk Knot Handicraft
  • Carboncyle Processing Inc.

 6th-10th Place (P100K Grant)

  • House of Ekolife
  • Got Heart Foundation
  • Edaya Cordillera
  • Cocoasenso Corp.
  • Calaboo Dairyland Inc

Special Awards:

People’s Choice Award (P20K + P50K worth of FB promoted posts and access to credit lines from BPI Business Banking Ka-Negosyo)

  • Nanaycare Inc

Negosyo Ko Award (P20K from BPI BanKo)

  • Kayumanggi Organic

The Gift Mentoring Program by Startup Village

  • Exceptional Sports and Nanaycare Inc.