WAITING in queues when paying bills, groceries, medicines, etc. will soon be a hassle of the past as Team “Wait Know More” came up with a solution – a web application with SMS integration — that would help reduce people’s long waiting times in the shops and won the inaugural Startup Weekend Cebu (SWC) on Sunday (May 13) at the Conference Hall of the University of the Philippines – Cebu (UPC).
The 10-man “Wait Know More” team, composed of members from different age groups – 16 being the youngest and 40 the oldest, ran away with the fabulous top prizes, including incorporation as a United Kingdom entity, as it bested 17 other teams in the 54-hour competition for developers, designers, marketers, technopreneurs, and venture capitalists.
It was a glorious weekend for “Wait Know More” as they were also named the “team that can change people’s lives” and received the special Faster World Award from incubator Kickstart Ventures Inc. Kickstart president and SWC judge Minette Navarrete handed out the award personally to Team “Wait Know More.”
“People really hate to be kept waiting in lines. So, I pitched the idea of creating a solution for this and drew nine other participants to form the team,” the skinny 20-year-old “Wait Know More” team leader Janessa Padin said. “I guess, our passion to get rid of those long lines and make people more productive helped secure the win for us, along with our great teamwork.”
Members of the winning squad are Kaom Te, George Padin, Cedric Santos Jr., Lance Quejada, Dandeljane Maraat, Cyrus Rufino, Kristian Jacob Abad Lora, Wesley Chiongbian, and Jason Coppage, the most senior in the team.
Team Luto.co, whose Android application would help food lovers save pantry resources, claimed second place, while Team Codetoki finished third with its employment apps for students.
Codetoki, whose application aims to assist IT students land a job, actually did not go home as a mere runner-up as it earned a slot in the Appbridge.org program of the Bill Clinton Foundation together with Team Digital Lifeline for their social enterprise initiatives.
Codetoki and Digital Lifeline will likewise get additional and extensive mentorship from experts who will assist them in the furtherance of their digital platforms and may possibly get the chance to meet with former US President Bill Clinton.
Team Commute.ph, with its web and mobile geolocator which aims to alleviate traffic problems in the Philippines, emerged as the people’s choice in the very successful staging of the first-ever Startup Weekend in Cebu which drew a total of 280 participants, including foreign technopreneurs from the US, Canada, Japan, and Australia.
Organizers, spearheaded by TechTalks.ph, said SWC was a complete success as the end-results have far exceeded their expectations.
“No, we did not expect SWC to be this successful,” said TechTalks.ph founder Tina Amper. “It’s absolutely crazy. The key factors for the success are the online developers who helped us spread the news, the untiring efforts of the local volunteers, and very generous support of the sponsors.”
Amper and the rest of the TechTalks.ph IT grassroots community are looking forward to the next Startup Weekend Cebu.
The prizes received by the winners were all courtesy of Amazon.com, Globe Telecom, Kickstart, Blackberry, Nokia Phils., Lenovo Mobile, ePremium Solutions, Harolds Hotel, and GT Cosmetics Manufacturing.
TechTalks.ph has partnered with innovative organizations — Globe, Kickstart, Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev), Developers Connect (devCon), Exist/Morphlabs, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) — to bring this much-anticipated event to Cebu.
Startup Weekend Cebu was held in partnership with the DOST–ICT Office and sponsored by Globe, Kickstart, devCon, PhilDev, Morphlabs, Exist Global, UP-Cebu, CeBuinIt, Microsoft BizSpark, Northern Worx, Wavemaker Labs, Blackberry, Gist, Third Team Media, Startupr, Symph, CareSharing, Clicking Labs, Ripe Concepts, webbROI, The Islands Group, Epremium Solutions, NCR, Nokia, Harolds, Lenovo, GT Cosmetics, RAFI Micro Finance, NSparks, Cedf-it, MyCebu.ph, Cebu Directories, Cebu Institute of Technology -University, PinoyBorn, Ching Palace, The Lean Entrepreneur, Maverick, AdSense Flippers, AppSumo, Shakey’s, Red Carpet Catering Services, Chedz Cakes and Pastries, Chinese Ngohiong, Philippine Spring Water Resources Inc., Shobee Bakeshop, Cebu Bloggers Society Inc., Zero Three Two, Everything Cebu, Amazing Cebu Channel 54, Alcordo Advertising, Sun.Star Cebu, Cebu Daily News, The Freeman, SGEntrepreneurs, D+B Wine Shop and PRWorks.
