A BIOLOGY professor from the De La Salle University won second place in the 2023 AWE Indo-Pacific Summit for Women in Tech pitch competition.

Dr. Chona Camille Abeledo and her team presented a pitch called “CrabTech Innovations,” an aquatech startup company that focuses on Crabifier and Alimango technologies.

Last year, the technology also won the Women in Ocean Food Innovation Studio pitch competition.

According to Abeledo, they hope to scale up CrabTech “to be able to commercialize their technologies to help improve the efficiency of mangrove crab farms in the Philippines and increase sustainability.”

The inaugural Indo-Pacific Women in Tech Summit under the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs program was staged by Taiwan and the U.S. last November 14-16 in Taipei City.

It was jointly organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration and the American Institute in Taiwan.

The event was attended by entrepreneurs from Taiwan, Brunei, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, and U.S.

Established in 2019 by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the AWE program seeks to provide women entrepreneurs with the skills, resources and networks needed to start and scale successful businesses.