Phnom Penh, 25th April 2018: After pitching their business ideas in front of a star-studded judging panel, Goama, the NETFLIX of Games for emerging countries, was picked as the Judge’s Choice of the inaugural Echelon TOP100 APAC 2018 Cambodia Qualifiers.
At Raintree Cambodia today, Goama competed with 20 other teams from the initial pool of over 30 teams. Goama will now be presented with a unique opportunity to meet with potential investors and government agencies at the Echelon Asia Summit 2018 in Singapore in June.
“We were really impressed with all the pitches today. They certainly represent the immense potential that Cambodia has in the startup scene. Besides being part of the TOP100 APAC Program, I am sure the winners will attract interest from many investors during Echelon that can bring a lot of advantages to their business and customers,” said Mohan Belani, e27 CEO and Co-Founder.
Four other startups were also selected including SPARE, a service to simplify booking or renting real estate and working spaces, which was awarded as Fan Favorite based on online votes. The other teams were BookMeBus, CamboTicket and Demine Robotics.
All winners will receive access to exclusive workshops as well as networking events across APAC and an invitation to exhibit and attend the annual Echelon Asia Summit 2018.
“I am thrilled to be voted as the Fan Favorite. Getting the chance to share our business ideas to investors internationally will definitely broaden our networks overseas as well as possibly gain financial support and recognition,” said Soeun Tharith, Co-Founder of SPARE.
TOP100 is an annual program that empowers insights, connections, talent and funding opportunities for early-stage tech startups in Asia. The program is powered by e27, Asia’s largest tech media platform. Throughout the last two months, e27 travelled through 23 APAC cities and partnered with community leaders and ecosystem expertise to curate the best tech startups to keep an eye out for.
At the opening ceremony, H.E. Dr. Kan Channmeta, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPTC) lauded this initiative: “The TOP100 program is in line with the Royal Government’s increased focus of nurturing and promoting startups as part of the future digital economy. I’m delighted that Smart has been a strong partner of MPTC and NIPTICT in creating new opportunities and possibilities for the Cambodian startup space.”
This year, for the very first time, the Echelon TOP100 program has been brought to Cambodia with the support from the MPTC and Smart Axiata, the country’s leading mobile operator.
“Smart is honored to partner with e27 on this program that builds on the many initiatives that we have carried out to develop the Kingdom’s vibrant local startup ecosystem. Programs such as this with opportunities for international exposure will certainly provide these promising startups impetus to move to the next level,” explained Smart Axiata CEO Thomas Hundt.
Different from other country qualifiers, attendees to the event at Raintree today also gained valuable insights from regional prominent figures from venture capital, corporate, government and public policy backgrounds during the panel line-up as part of the morning program.[/vc_column_text][stm_spacer height=”40″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
