AN e-commerce platform founded by students of the Ateneo de Manila was declared as Innovation Champion at the ASEAN Young Business Youth Association LEAPS Demo Day.

The event was held in a hybrid setup online and at DBS Asia X in Singapore.

The platform “Murch” was developed by fifth year BS Information Technology Entrepreneurship students Arvin Martin Santos, Joshua Taningco, Benedict Tyler O’yek, Frances Therese Ong, Ma. Ysabel Aurora Poe and Jason Jon Reyes.

Also included in the group was co-founder and chief product officer Mary Pauline Baterna.

“Murch is an end-to-end merchandise platform that supports communities (e.g., student and youth organizations, non-profits) throughout their fundraising efforts—from design and production, to e-commerce and distribution,” Ateneo said.

The university said six teams out of hundreds of participants from Asean countries were picked as finalists but only three won awards.

Murch was the only team from the Philippines that made it to the finals.

ABYA LEAPS (Leadership, Exploration, and Progress) is an immersion program designed to equip and groom students to become industry-relevant, future savvy talents.

This year’s iteration focused on technology and digitalization.