AI, sustainability among trends to watch out for in PH startups 

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainable practices are among the noticeable trends in the local startup landscape, experts pointed out.

At the Philippine Startup Week launch in Taguig City on Monday, Jay Fajardo, executive director of VC firm Ideaspace Foundation, Inc., said that AI is a worldwide phenomenon, with countries investing in building data centers. 

“The advent of AI cannot be understated….AI is very computer-power hungry. So if you notice around the world in the past few weeks, everyone’s scrambling to create data centers,” said Fajardo in a press briefing.

He added that some of the Philippines' neighbors, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia, are beefing up their supercomputing capabilities. 

But building data centers requires a lot of power, Fajardo said, making it an expensive prospect in the Philippine setup. 

“Unfortunately, data centers are also power-hungry and the Philippines is not exactly the cheapest place to tap energy. So we need start looking into renewable energy, cheap sources of energy for us to be a viable sovereign AI country,” he said. 

On the other hand, the DOST- Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) said that sustainability has become a viable business for startups these days. 

“There is a trend on sustainability and one major field of this is making sustainable products or solutions. So kasama dito yung mga [These include] bioplastics, sustainability business models, or practices,” said DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Enrico Paringit. 

The DOST-PCIEERD official said that push for decarbonization and digitalization have fueled the trend for sustainability among startups. 

“In the past, hindi pa siya [it was not yet] viable as a business but now because of the global movement on decarbonization and digitalization, these make good ingredients for future startups,” he added. “So decarbonization, digitalization, and artificial intelligence will probably be the future directions of our startups.”

The government is targeting to generate up to P5 billion in investments from local and international sources to help Filipino startup companies further grow in the coming years. — BM, GMA Integrated News