The Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) brings together innovators from around the world to connect and interact with one another. In this article, five women entrepreneurs share their key takeaways from the event.

On September 17-20, 2018, tech innovators and entrepreneurs flocked to Singapore to showcase their best ideas and innovations at the Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH). The Marina Bay Sands Expo & Convention Centre was bursting with feature exhibitions, conferences, workshops, and activities on topics such as open innovation, technology transfer, tech entrepreneurship, venture funding, and talent development.

Connected Women was well-represented in this year’s SWITCH. For Part 2 of our #SWITCHSG2018 article series, five female entrepreneurs shared the best insights they gleaned from the four-day convention. Here’s what they had to say:

The Silicon Valley of South East Asia

Bonnie Factor, co-founder and chief strategist at eCFulfill, was amazed at the support and encouragement that startups received during the event.

“Truly, Singapore is the Silicon Valley of South East Asia. The robust funding for startups is so mature; the support for startups is unmatched. It gave me a global sense of how we as founders of eCFulfill need to grow as leaders as fast as we can to empower our team members that there’s a future for the Philippines in technology.”

eCFulfill is a one-stop-shop for Filipino eCommerce sellers for Amazon & eBay. The company helps local entrepreneurs sell their products through consolidating and consignment of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) products. Their tech solutions solve the problem of expensive international shipping and allow local entrepreneurs to earn more and get their products out into the world.

Startups Can Go Global

Startups are more than just derivatives of mom-and-pop ventures. Cherry Murillon-Cubacub, co-founder, chief financial officer, and business development officer of Antipara Exploration, Inc., discovered that there is a market for everything and that startups can go global.

“[From the SWITCH event,] I was able to validate that we have a huge market overseas and that there were a handful of venture capitalists that were very much interested to be our partner in scaling globally. I was also able to validate that there are a lot of similar startups, but our main advantage is our assessment and data analysis.

“I know [the Philippines] has a long way to go but at least we know that we are at par with other developed countries in terms of computer vision and machine learning.”

Antipara Exploration is an underwater 3D visual mapping and analytics company. Its custom-built underwater towed platform with camera and sonar system provides maps and other relevant information for marine management. Machine vision is employed to analyze the 3D scan and determine habitat classification, coral reef health, and change detection.

Filipinos Are Truly World Class

Leah Rasay, co-founder of Husay Co., sees how Filipinos are world-renowned performing artists. At the SWITCH event, she was inspired to work harder to bring more Filipinos to the global audience.

“The highlight for us was that the attendees we were able to talk to already knew that Filipinos are really talented, especially when it comes to music and dance. We are more inspired to improve our services so that we would be able to connect Filipino performers to more jobs, for both local and global clients.”

Husay Co. highlights Filipino talent by introducing them to a wider audience with the help of technology. It is a performing arts solutions company that enables production professionals and performers to connect for work and impact.

Mom-preneurs Are The Future Of Business

Leezibet Heinzraiden, founder of WhiteIsntBlack Consultancy leverages on the passion, drive, and talent of moms. She believes that moms have great business ideas that can help change the way people work and live.

“WhiteIsntBlack was selected to participate in the world’s first ever startup pitch on the GMAX extreme swing against five other startup teams with equally feisty pitches. Although we didn’t win, we are the runner-up with the most number of viewers on Slush Singapore’s Facebook page.

“My takeaway from this event is that you are a winner no matter what. Leave the negativity behind, move forward with technology, and help change other women’s lives!”

WhiteIsntBlack Consultancy was a runner-up in the 2018 Slush Singapore, held the week prior to the SWITCH event. Slush is the premier tech startup launchpad of South East Asia and helps facilitate founder and investor meetings to build a worldwide startup community.

WhiteIsntBlack Consultancy is a startup platform that trains, coaches, and helps turn women’s business ideas into income with the aid of technology and online marketing. The company primarily works with single moms, stay-at-home moms, and businesswomen looking into a shift of traditional business to online platforms.

Make Artificial Intelligence Work For The Greater Good

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here, and it is here to stay. Charibeth Cheng, head of research at Senti Tech Labs, stresses the importance of AI, and how we should make this technology work for us, and not the other way around.

“While we want to protect our privacy and security, we should also be sensitive to the potential impact artificial intelligence has in solving crucial world problems. It’s not about what AI can do, but what AI should do for humanity. We have a big role in making sure to harness the benefits of this technology, and to protect the current and succeeding generations from the unintended consequences of AI.”

Senti Tech Labs is a text analytics and artificial intelligence company based in the Philippines and specializing in understanding Filipino culture. Its local-first approach provides an in-depth understanding of languages and conversations through contextual and cultural analysis.

This is Part 2 of our #SWITCHSG2018 article series. Read Part 1 and Part 3.

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