THE UNIVERSITY of the Philippines Los Baños won the Best Incubator Community Award of the PH Startup Incubator organized by the Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development and QBO Innovation Hub.

UPLB’s “Startup Innovation and Business Opportunity Linkage” was recognized for its valuable impact through fostering innovation, advancing startup awareness, and cultivating collaboration among key stakeholders to develop the local and national innovation ecosystem.

Dubbed as TBI 4.0, the competition aimed to transform the Philippine startup ecosystem by elevating the capacities and services of 12 Technology Business Incubators from the country’s leading universities.

“UPLB SIBOL bested the community programs of 11 other TBIs through its aggressive pursuit of partnerships and community engagements. UPLB SIBOL was given a trophy and P50,000 cash for this award,” the university said.

The other finalists were the AIM-Dado Banatao Incubator and iDEYA-MSU Iligan Institute of Technology.

Glenn Baticados, project leader, said that UPLB SIBOL is envisioned to be a prime-mover of the agri-startup ecosystem in Calabarzon.

“We aim to bring UPLB technologies and startups in the global startup scene,” Baticados said.

The school said UPLB SIBOL collaborated with the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture, East West Seed Company, and Sensient Colors LLC for the program that awarded over P1.2 million in seed and prototype funding to 20 startup teams.

The project was nominated for three other awards — Best Incubator Startup Program, Best Incubator for Growth and Sustainability, and Grand Champion.

The PH Startup Incubator Awards is part of the 2021 Philippine Research, Development, and Innovation Conference, the country’s first massive public presentation of completed R&D projects in the industry, energy, and emerging technology sector.