On Friday, November27, Katalyst will reserve the entire venue, the Palace Pool Club, in Bonifacio Global City, where the incubator will hold the largest startup funding event in world history. This event, dubbed #Katalyst2015, will feature more than 1,500 startup cofounders and 500 independent and institutional investors from all over the globe.
The goal of #Katalyst2015 is to not just get entrepreneurs and investors to converge in one place and network with one another, but to actually get them to strike deals on that very night.
The venue will feature secure and protected rooms where negotiations on terms can be discussed. General terms can be agreed upon, of course, contingent upon a requisite due diligence period, postevent.
The event’s corresponding web platform enabled investors to view startup documents, such as pitch decks, even incorporation papers, business licenses, and other pertinent documents. Investors will be able to search the growing database of more than 1,500 qualified startups by niche and industry, fundraise size, addressable market, gross revenues and net profits, as well as a wide range of other criteria.
“The Philippines has no shortage of startup events, but there will be none quite like #Katalyst2015. We will set it up so that investors feel comfortable making investments then and there, thereby acknowledging that real business is made between people who share the same vision, not between people who have happened to register for the same conference,” said Joe Maristela, who is one of the cofounders of Katalyst.
In a dash of showmanship befitting the venue, there will also be a smartdisplay/counter that tabulates the total U.S.dollar value of the deals made through out the night, all in real time for the audience to see and celebrate over. Maristela and the Katalyst team are wellaware that this metric could be a show stopper, particularly if it becomes large.
“People like hearing about investment deals because it’s a rough index of how well a tech ecosystem is doing. We’ve decided to highlight this information so we can show all the people in attendance and indeed, around the world just how much interest there is in Philippine made products and solutions. In true Filipino style, it’ll be the debut of our ecosystem,” said Pinky Natividad, who is one of the cofounders of Katalyst.
While the smart display and the ultimate value that flashes across it may grab headlines, the Katalyst team wants to call attention to the fact that the investors and entrepreneurs in attendance are trying to solve real, big picture problems. They just need capital from investors to gain more traction for their solutions.
While Filipino entrepreneurs may begin by addressing these macrolevel issues in the country, they may apply to other emerging markets or indeed most other countries. The Philippines, as the Katalyst team envisions it, is merely the launching pad for globally impactful companies.
Jardine Gerodias, one of the co-founders of Katalyst and a key investor himself, in the Philippines, referenced the traffic woes the country has faced as an example.
“Traffic is a huge, daunting problem, but many of the attending entrepreneurs are envisioning a Philippines no longer besieged by it. They’re developing alternative transport and mass transit and ridesharing platforms. This is what #Katalyst2015 will be all about being among likeminded people who dare to dream of a better country and better world,” Gerodias said, who added that every major industry will be represented at the event.
Though the event is still several months away, #Katalyst2015 is already generating significant buzz in the startup community. Lyle Jover, one of the cofounders of freelancing platform Raket.ph and its CEO, expressed whyhe thinks the event will appeal to entrepreneurs, particularly those who may be fundraising.
“Let’s face it: Fundraising takes up a lot of time time that you could otherwise be spending building your business. By hosting #Katalyst2015, which encourages entrepreneurs and investors to make deals in a comfortable environment, Katalyst saves both parties time. They can then pour the entirety of their energy into the developing the products that our nation needs,” said Jover, who recently won Startup Summit Philippines and was awarded with an allexpense paid trip to Amsterdam for the Ye! Social Enterprise Boost Camp.
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Interested attendees for #Katalyst 2015 are invited to register for the event at the following link: http://www.katalyst2015.ph/
For people interested in attending #Katalyst2015 as an official startup, you may now submit your video pitches to hello@katalyst.ph for the initial screening.
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For more information about the event and for sponsorships, please contact: Ginger Arboleda ginger@manilaworkshops.com +63(917)8555990
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