Ateneo de Manila University ranked highly among 40 Higher Education Institution (HEI) potential grantees, with funding opportunities of up to Php20M

A delegation from the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) was awarded during the Kick-off ceremony for the Higher Education Institution Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship (HEIRIT) 2.0 Preparatory Training Program held at the World Palace Hotel in Davao City from June 23 to June 24, 2022. The AIPO delegation, as shown in the photo below, consists of (from left to right) Ms Wilma Alamar, Ms May Ann Udtojan MSc, Mr George Omer Dennis Quitoriano ME, Engr Benjamin Mirasol MBA, Ms Vanessa Malapit MSc, and Mr Bryan James Erfe. Through the AIPO team’s earlier efforts during the application phase of HEIRIT 2.0, the Ateneo de Manila University was ranked among the top three (3) of the forty (40) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) eventually accepted to the program.

Photo: Ateneo de Manila University TBI Team

HEIRIT is a program funded by the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD), and it provides a structured and immersive capacity-building training to enable Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to establish or improve their own Technology Business Incubation (TBI). HEIRIT 2.0 is entitled “Handholding Starting Incubators from HEIs for Readiness towards Innovation and Technopreneurship Preparatory and Skills Acceleration for TBI Managers Optimizing Regional Startup Ecosystem” (HIHEIRIT PA MORE), and this current program is being implemented by the University of the Philippines Growing and Developing Enterprises (UPGRADE) and co-implemented by UPSCALE Innovation Hub in collaboration with AnimoLabs Foundation, E3Hubs Asia, and IISLA Ventures.

The HEIRIT 2.0 Kick-off event marked the formal start of the HIHEIRIT PAMORE program through traditional ceremonial rites organized by UPSCALE, UPGRADE, UP MINDANAO and DOST PCIEERD. It was attended by TBI teams from all forty (40) participating universities and colleges, and it brought together all the HEI trainees, training providers, the DOST team, the PCIEERD team, the HIHEIRIT PAMORE management team and mentors, staff, and administrators from the University of the Philippines (UP) Mindanao.

Photo from HEIRIT Official FB Page: TBI Managers from forty (40) participating universities and colleges with the various partners of HEIRIT 2.0

The TBI teams began their training session during the second day of the event. Ms Russell Pili discussed the “Opportunities and the Value of TBIs in the Philippines.” Afterwards, Mr Andrew Wong, co-founder of E3HUBS and 17 years in Business Incubation with more than 7000 startups with 90% success rate, began the first training module on the “Psychology of Entrepreneurship”.

Photo: Ateneo de Manila University TBI Team with the co-founder of E3HUBS, Mr Andrew Wong.

With Ateneo’s inclusion in HEIRIT 2.0, Ateneo will have the opportunity to tap into funding potentially worth up to Php20M for the purposes of strengthening AIPO’s capacity in incubating technologies created by innovators within the university and by its external clients. This will  help AIPO a lot in achieving its vision of being the country's leading university-based hub for the innovation, protection, and dissemination of creative ideas that benefit society.

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