Last night, in the heart of Manila, leading business owners, investors, venture capitalists, and political figures, gathered at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, to celebrate the launch of Block Dojo in Asia.
The VIP evening was hosted by Block Dojo, a renowned incubator fostering blockchain entrepreneurship, in partnership with nChain, a leading global technology company, offering software solutions, consulting services, and IP licensing for clients across major industries looking to benefit from the security, transparency, scalability and cost-effectiveness of blockchain.
The event aligns with the President of the Philippines heralding the importance of Blockchain and digital asset technologies in November 2022 and, more recently, calling for digital transformation across the nation. nChain and Block Dojo are committed to creating tangible business opportunities for Blockchain development and acting as a leading light in the digital revolution in the Philippines.
The culmination of the event marked the opening of Block Dojo’s call for submissions from start-ups across the Philippines, interested in securing a place to attend the 12-week programme, which puts entrepreneurs through their paces via technical education, investment guidance, investor pitching, and commercialization.
Stefan Matthews, nChain Executive Chairman & Block Dojo Director said: “Last December, I committed to the Provincial Government of Bataan to establish an instance of Block Dojo here in the Philippines, specifically in Bataan. The official launch represents the delivery of that commitment. Further, we are delivering against the mandate announced by His Excellency President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in October 2022. We invest in promoting Filipino start-ups, guiding them to provide blockchain solutions to the Philippines and the world, and internationally showcasing technology, innovation, and capabilities. Our Block Dojo investment will intake approx. forty selected concepts and output ten as business ready and funded. This process is not a one-off, cohorts will continue, and the process will be repeated three (3) times per year, so over two years, we will have an intake of 240 start-ups and deliver 60 successful, advanced Filipino projects. I wish all cohort participants well; I am optimistic about what we will see here. This initiative is very special to us all.”
James Marchant, nChain Business Development Officer & Block Dojo Executive Chairman said: “This event marks the opening of Block Dojo Philippines, the first Dojo in Asia and indeed our first international Dojo outside of the UK. Since nChain committed to supporting the Philippines earlier this year, my team and I have been busy recruiting and training a local team and establishing partnerships with other local stakeholders. We are quickly becoming the epicentre of what we have found to be a vibrant and growing startup community. Our recent launch event marks the opening of Dojo Philippines accepting applications from Filipino founders and entrepreneurs that have an idea for a business and want to leverage the commercial expertise of the Dojo as well as the IP, technology, and resources of nChain to catapult their idea into the next big thing. The first intensive 12 week-programme will begin in Bataan in January 2024 and our first Filipino cohort of startups will launch to the world in March 2024.”