Student Founders, This One’s for You: Ateneo BUILD and AIPO Partner to Launch New Incubation Track

August 7, 2025 — Student founders at Ateneo, your next big opportunity is here.

The Ateneo Business Insights Laboratory for Development (BUILD) and the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) have partnered to launch a new incubation track for student-led technology startups at Ateneo de Manila University, giving aspiring student founders more concrete support to turn their ideas into market-ready ventures.

This partnership combines AIPO’s expertise in protecting and commercializing innovations with BUILD’s hands-on support in customer validation, market testing, and data-driven venture development. While the track builds on BUILD’s experience working with BS Information Technology Entrepreneurship (BS ITE) startup teams, it is open to students from any program developing software-based solutions.

Through this initiative, student founders can look forward to structured access to mentorship, prototyping support, IP advisory, and innovation networks. These resources will come from AIPO’s DOST-supported Ateneo Blue Nest incubator and BUILD’s developmental approach as the research arm of the Department of Quantitative Methods and Information Technology (QMIT) under the John Gokongwei School of Management.

The program follows a series of adaptive milestones that reflect the real, iterative nature of building a startup, from early ideation and validation, to technical development, and finally to piloting with real users. While BS ITE startups remain the core audience, technology-enabled ventures from other programs will also be considered on a selective basis.

Key areas of collaboration include shared mentorship and resources, capacity-building workshops, and co-hosted events that bring student entrepreneurs together to learn and grow. These opportunities will be jointly promoted to strengthen Ateneo’s startup ecosystem and make it easier for student founders to find the right resources.

This collaboration answers a long-standing call from students and startup partners for more accessible and clearly defined incubation pathways. It also formalizes the incubation-like support BUILD has been offering informally over the years, enabling consistent, sustainable help to early-stage founders. AIPO’s role will be to help teams see their projects not just as technical and creative outputs, but as ventures with sustainability, protection, and commercialization potential.

The agreement has the endorsement of the Assistant Vice President for Research, Creative Work, and Innovation, and the Dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management. Through this partnership, BUILD and AIPO aim to equip Ateneo innovators to launch ventures that are technically sound, commercially viable, financially sustainable, and socially relevant, while also demonstrating how collaboration between university units can strengthen the overall innovation ecosystem.