Startup Labs, a global co-investment program for tech startups that focuses on emerging markets, is excited to announce an upcoming trip to the Philippines. The trip is scheduled for early February and the local investment group will be listening to startups’ pitches in Manila to explore and invest.

Investment partners that will be evaluating opportunities with Startup Labs in Philippines include IdeaSpace, Siemer & Associates, ICCP Venture Partners and local angels. Startup Labs travels to emerging markets to discover the most promising early stage tech startups, invest in them with local investors, and explore various cross-border opportunities. Startup Labs gathers and empowers local investors to create the funding startups need in order to take advantage of growth opportunities in emerging economies and also create and attract a strong deal flow.

Startup Labs also builds strategic alliances with prominent businesses in each region, as well as meeting with key influencers in the area who are driving innovation. Startup Labs portfolio companies have access to these influencers, learn about growth markets, challenges, and opportunities, as well as exploring cross-border expansion opportunities. For 2013, Startup Labs has plans to visit over 25 cities on four continents and gather at least 100 local investors together to invest in +125 startups around the world.

The deadline for registering for the Philippine program is January 20th and the pitching sessions are scheduled for the first week of February. Those who are interested in this exceptional opportunity are urged to apply at:
http://www.startuplabs.org/philippines.html

Startup Labs Director, Tugce Ergul, had this to say, “I am very excited to be bringing Startup Labs to Philippines. I find Philippines to be a very exciting market with a lot of potential especially once the entire ecosystem and investors are aligned. We will be mixing the local investors’ expertise with a global Silicon Valley and the Philippine context. The ecosystem is very young and there’s a lot of market fragmentation but this only makes things more exciting for us.”

Startup Labs focuses mainly on emerging markets and co-invests with the top local investors in respective markets while operating post-investment bootcamps with top mentors. They enable companies to succeed in ways other venture firms do not by building a global platform for all teams and investors. Their goal is to help early stage startups succeed and accelerate their growth with capital and support from influencers.

More info: http://www.startuplabs.org/about.html