Last 12-16 June, a delegation from the Philippines attended the 10th year of London Tech Week (LTW) - Europe's largest tech festival that brought together over 20,000 government and corporate leaders, inspirational start-up founders, senior investors, and tech-rising stars from all around the world to discuss the power of technology for societies.
The delegation was composed of Makati City Mayor Abby Binay; and executives from GCash (Martha Sazon - President and CEO, Pebbles Sy - Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Sara Venturina - Chief Data Officer); Kickstart Ventures (Minette Navarrete - President and Co-founder, Mike Maté - VP Investments); Digital Pilipinas (Amor Maclang); QBO (Katrina Chan - Executive Director); Paymongo (Jojo Malolos - President and CEO), mWell by Metro Pacific (Chaye Cabal - Revilla - CEO); and RCBC (Lito Villanueva - EVP and Chief Innovations and Inclusion Officer).
Discussions throughout the week focused on how the UK and the Philippines can deepen cooperation across fintech, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity - exploring market potential and opportunities for British companies to enter and expand in the Philippines.
At LTW's Transformation Stage, Pebbles Sy of GCash shared the recent launch of GCash overseas in the UK in April, where she discussed the future of payment innovation and the open banking industry. Minette Navarrete of Kickstart Ventures also had the pleasure of joining this year's Global Leaders Innovation Summit and talked about the power of tech in inspiring innovative change.
L-R: Jon Perez, Martha Sazon, Pebbles Sy, Juliette Wilcox CMG, Lito Villanueva, Sara Venturina
During the visit, the delegation had the opportunity to attend high-level networking receptions and meet with senior UK officials. They joined a business leaders' garden reception at 10 Downing Street hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and a LTW reception at Banqueting House hosted by Secretary of State for Business and Trade Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP to celebrate the thriving UK tech sector. They also met with the UK's Cybersecurity Ambassador Juliette Wilcox CMG who led the conversation on how to better equip companies with the best cybersecurity technologies.
Kickstart Ventures investment announcement
Furthering UK and Philippine partnerships in the growing tech sector, His Majesty's Trade Commissioner Natalie Black CMG announced Kickstart Ventures' multimillion UK investment in Roslin Technologies. The partnership supports Kickstart's mission to become the leading provider of animal cell lines to the global cultivated meat industry:
Kickstart Ventures' investment into Roslin Technologies highlights the strengths of the UK's world-class $1 Trillion tech sector, third in the world after the UK and China. I look forward to seeing the breakthroughs that will come from this partnership and the difference it will make in the future of food security.
