It started with 60 seconds. In just one minute, student teams from UP, La Salle, and Ateneo de Manila University stood before a panel of top tech leaders to pitch their boldest business ideas—no fluff, just vision and execution.
What followed was a dynamic showcase of youth innovation at the Big 3 Startup Showdown, a hackathon bringing together the next generation of Filipino changemakers.From an impressive pool of participants, three teams emerged as winners:
LittleBranch: The go-to portal for discovering over 1,000 exciting kids’ activities across the Philippines, helping parents find the best experiences for every child.
Quasar: The first all-in-one, AI-powered platform for automating loan approval services in the Philippines.
Venyu: the largest one-stop sport venue booking platform with over 1,000 courts in Metro Manila. Find, book and play in minutes.
The final event was held at the Maya Headquarters, Launchpad Building, where student entrepreneurs delivered fast-paced pitches and high-impact solutions—proving that the country’s most exciting startups might just be brewing in the halls of its top universities.
Industry leaders joined the judging panel, including Maya Chief Product Officer Mitch Padua, mWell CIO Albert Padin, Google Philippines Customer Engineer Loys Talip, and Gobi Core Founding Partner Carlo Delantar, offering critical feedback and real-world insights. The winning teams also earned a Php30,000 cash prize each to support their upcoming participation in Geeks on a Beach 2025, a global beachside tech conference where game-changing ideas are pitched to global investors and thought leaders.
“We witnessed incredible ingenuity from these top universities—ideas grounded in real-world problems and driven by purpose,” said Mitch Padua, Maya Group Chief Product Officer. “That’s the magic of young innovators: they’re not just coding apps —they’re crafting solutions. At Maya, we’re proud to champion that mindset. It’s exactly how we began—by daring to reimagine the way things are done.”
Education Remains Key
The showdown was organized with the support of respected faculty from the participating schools, led by Prof. Bowei Gai (La Salle), with the support of Prof. Jose Emmanuel Reverente (UP), and Prof. Joseph Benjamin Ilagan (ADMU).
“This event isn’t just about winning pitches—it’s about opening doors,” shared Gai. “Ateneo, La Salle, and UP worked together on this event with the shared goal of giving students the chance to pitch to real VCs and product leaders and learn how their ideas can translate into real-world solutions. That experience alone is game-changing.”
While the event built countless bridges of opportunity for the participants, it also created a new network among the country’s top universities.
“It’s rare—and really special—to see students from UP, La Salle, and Ateneo come together like this. Events like this allow them to go beyond the classroom and see what it really takes to compete at a high level. They get to pitch not just to mentors, but to real investors who challenge them with tough, real-world questions,” added Gai.
“That kind of experience is invaluable—it pushes them to level up, think bigger, and build ventures that not only solve real problems but are also sustainable and investor-ready,” Reverente concluded.
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