Helping raise roughly $40 million for a Silicon Valley
company before it produced its first intelligent wearable headset is just one
of several feats for Filipino-American Yobie Benjamin, serial entrepreneur and ‘World
Economic Forum Technology Pioneer’ awardee.
Yobie Benjamin can talk about several amazing things during
the 5th Geeks on a Beach (GOAB 5) in Puerto Princesa, Palawan on August 24-25, according
to Tina Amper of TechTalks.ph and organizer of this annual tech startup event
in the Philippines.
“We hope the presence of Benjamin will inspire local
startups and MSMEs. But more important, we are looking forward to having this
global technology leader to interact with industry leaders and the startup
community to drive action for the betterment of the Philippines and the world.
GOAB continues to aim for measurable impact by facilitating potential projects
and business deals not only for individual companies but also for the
Philippine startup ecosystem,” Amper said.
Yobie Benjamin (Photo courtesy of Wildlife Works) |
For starters, Amper pointed out that this former political
prisoner during the Marcos dictatorship days raised $40 million for Avegant,
the company that makes and sells the Avegant virtual reality video headset and
Skully, an intelligent motorcycle helmet that helps you see what is happening
at the back, receive and make calls, and communicate with nearby vehicles.
Benjamin recently raised $18.5 million for Token that provides
software to banks that enables them to issue a new payment type designed
specifically for use in the digital era.
According to Amper, Geeks on a Beach gathers hundreds of
technology entrepreneurs and professionals along with concerned government
agencies to also look at ways of leveraging technology to help address
Philippine social and environmental problems.
Amper said, this former political prisoner’s social concerns
can be seen in his involvement in yet another company that is developing the
ability to perform 50 diagnostic tests using only a drop of blood. This
service, he said in a talk at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, will soon
be given for free to whole populations in return for big data.
In Kenya, Benjamin is involved in Wildlife Works that sells
carbon credits for protecting the rainforest and wildlife from poachers. The
poachers, he said, included Al Shabbab terrorists. In Brazil, Benjamin’s
company applied the same business model to mobilize the coastal population to
protect mangrove forests.
Geeks on a Beach has partnered with the City of Puerto
Princesa in Palawan. Known for its environmental advocacy, the city is the
location of the world-famous underground river. Tubbataha Reef, one of the
world’s biggest ecosystem, is located some 92 nautical miles southeast of
Puerto Princesa.
PLDT Innolab is supporting GOAB 5 as co-presenter while A
Space is co-producer. The sponsors include Payoneer, Zalora, PouchNATION, Istorya.net,
Synergy 88 Digital, Uniform Solutions, and NXTLVL Academy.
The media partners are e27, Tech in Asia, Auza.net, Innopub
Media, Geeks in Cambodia, Asian Journal Publications, Balikbayan Magazine,
Mobile Ecosystem Forum, ConnectedWomen.co and QueenCityCebu.com, The
organizational partners are the Philippine Software Industry Association, the
National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, UP CebuINIT, Digital Commerce
Association of the Philippines, Developers Connect, Science and Technology
Advisory Council - Silicon Valley, Mynimo, Teradoor, Israel Chamber of Commerce
Philippines, and the Cloud Security Alliance Philippines.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is GOAB co-organizer, together with TechTalks.ph. TechTalks.ph member Happy Garaje is responsible for branding; PRworks for media and public relations; and Sym.ph for web development.
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