AIM positions itself as startup incubator, partners with IT pioneer Dado Banatao

The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and Diosdado “Dado” Banatao, Chairman of PhilDev Foundation and IT pioneer, are working together to give startups in the Philippines an incubator program. The goal is to accelerate the development of startups and open up more local opportunities for entrepreneurship.AIM, in partnership with PhilDev, received a Php 14.8 million grant in initial funding for the AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Incubator Creation Program.Commenting on the rationale behind the AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator, AIM President and Dean Jikyeong Kang said, “Startups belong to the biggest drivers of the Philippine economy, micro enterprises and small businesses. Of the 99.6% of local companies that make up the backbone of the local economy, a mere fraction of a percent belongs to medium enterprises. The bulk belongs to enterprises with less than 10 employees.”“We believe that AIM’s being located in the Philippines is not an accident. At AIM, our motto is ‘Lead. Inspire. Transform.’ and the working out of that vision begins here, in the Philippines. One of the fastest ways we can achieve this is to give the country’s biggest economic engine the rare opportunity to benefit from the mentorship of global visionaries, such as Dado Banatao,” Kang said.Banatao founded several Silicon Valley companies, including Chips & Technologies, S3 Graphics, SiRF, Marvell, and Inphi. He has also made major investments in Cyras Systems, Stream Machine, Wilocity. He is best known for pioneering two technologies that are widely regarded as the cornerstones of today’s PC: chipset and graphics acceleration architecture.Said AIM’s Kang, “Aside from providing qualified startups rent-free working space, AIM will also gladly make accessible to them a mentoring program and the expertise of our faculty and alumni.”“We do this in hopes of encouraging more angels and VC funds to invest as well as lowering the assumption-to-knowledge ratio of startups in the Incubator as painlessly as possible. As a management institute, AIM can do no less,” Kang concluded.What startups getWorld-class mentorship from serial entrepreneurs, top executives, industry experts, including individuals with a successful track record in Silicon ValleyAccess to the global funding network of Dado Banatao, PhilDev, and AIMEducation and training calibrated to the needs of the startup’s foundersResources from selected partnersRent-free, dedicated office space with high-speed Internet connectivity inside the AIM Campus in the heart of the Makati CBDDemo nights and exclusive networking events for business development and investmentsEligibilityThe incubator intends to support early-stage startups with deep technology, science, or engineering solutions to the neglected problems of an emerging world.Eligible startups will have a proven ability to build quickly, sell to customers, and evolve their idea into a business that can grow.To be accepted into the AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator Program, the startup must meet the following criteria Founder•       Team of two to six members with at least one founder with rigorous science / engineering / technical expertise and one founder with market and business development expertise•       Both tech and business co-founders will work on the business full-time•       Open to non-AIM students and graduatesTechnology•       Early product demonstrating a strong core science, technology or engineering innovation, or vetted market need, up to a minimum viable productStage•       Open to early-stage startups with or without prior external funding, revenues, or customer tractionIndustry•       Focus on sectors that need innovative solutions•       S&T-based solutions in communications, agriculture, health, AI, IoT, and so on•       Need not be limited to software; can also include hardware and business model innovationsThe AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator has a rolling application with no set deadline. All applicants must fill out the online application form on the AIM website: https://aim.edu/dado-banatao-incubator