A STUDENT of the University of Asia and the Pacific placed second in a premier global competition for student entrepreneurs held recently.

Sofia Coronel, a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Management student, claimed the second prize in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Student Entrepreneur Awards for creating “Convo Design,” a chatbot development company that creates meaningful brand and customer interactions through automated conversations targeting professionals and small to medium-sized companies within and outside the Philippines.

“Before Convo Design, Pia’s first start-up business was Songsmith Media. Songsmith creates beautiful and unique songs based on the life stories of its customers, as mementos of special life events like weddings, anniversaries, and debuts, as gifts to loved ones and friends, and as anthems that immortalize corporate missions and philosophies,” the university said.

“But when the pandemic came, the celebrations industry was impacted in a major way so she had to change her business in her last year of college and find a new opportunity. Aware of how companies became more concerned with future-proofing their marketing and customer service activities, she started her new business Convo Design,” it added.

Coronel said she was able to adapt to the new normal quickly, and a big part of that transition was because of the Enterprunial Management Program, especially its NBV Mentoring Program.

“If it weren’t for the support and guidance of my mentor and professors, I wouldn’t have been able to pivot as smoothly as I did,” she said.