Startup Weekend's First Youth Edition held in Cebu

This year’s Startup Weekend Cebu Youth Edition took place on the 16th of February until the 18th of February. It was the sixth installment of Startup Weekend Cebu and the first Youth Edition in the country. Over sixty Grade 9 to Grade 12 students participated in the event. It was held at The Grid Pad and Creative Campus in Talamban, Cebu City.


Startup Weekend was created to inspire, encourage, educate, and empower individuals, teams, and communities to startup businesses. It was intended to help individuals grow in order to help the economy grow as a whole. To extend this vision, the Youth Edition was designed to equip and enable the youth to experience the highs and lows of an entrepreneurial journey.


Startup Weekend was founded in 2007 in Colorado, USA. It is a three-day event that follows a global program that allows participants to experience what it is to create a validated solution to a problem. Afterwards, they learn how to work on a business model and come up with a Minimum Viable Product. On the first day, the participants pitched their ideas, chose their project, and built their teams. On the second day, the participants were given resources to develop their presentation. Local mentors were present to give support and to coach the participants. On the last day, the teams presented their ideas in front of a panel. Team “Where’s my Bus?” won first place. Team Finding Doctor came in second and Team Co.Lab came in third. Team Lakbay won fourth place and Team Transugbo won fifth place.


According to the lead organizer of Startup Weekend Cebu Youth Edition, Justine Win Cañete, this edition was special because it was exclusive to the youth. The goal of the Youth Edition was to inspire interest in technology, design, and/or entrepreneurship in the younger generation.



(Janna Yuvallos)