Close to 300 Philippine-based developers will attempt to hack their way into Silicon Valley and win more than Php2 million worth of prizes by joining the local leg of teh AngelHack Spring Global Challenge, the world's largest coding marathon. The even is organized and sponsored by wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. and business incubator IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc., in partnership with US-based AngelHack.
The winning team at AngeIHack Manila (#AngeIHackMNl) will bring home prizes including a USD5,000 travel
grant to fund their trip to Silicon Valley where AngeIHack will introduce them to incubators and investors to help
turn their big idea into a startup. They will also get a USD20,000 investment from Asia Pacific Ventures, at least
USD20,000 worth of services from sponsors, an incorporation grant from IdeaSpace, and two Smart LTE prepaid
iPad mini units.
Before heading to Silicon Valley, the winners will get a 12-week mentorship from IdeaSpace and Smart
Developer Network (Smart DevNet).
AngeIHack Manila will run from June 8 to 9 at the Pasig City headquarters of Smart subsidiary Voyager
Innovations. AngeIHack cofounder and CEO Greg Gopman will attend the event, along with TechCrunch writer
Josh Constine who will also serve as judge in the finals.
"Smart DevNet fully supports the idea of hackathons like AngeIHack as a rich source of tech innovation. We
believe in the concept of hacking for building products from idea to demo in a short period of time," said Jim
Ayson, Smart senior manager for partnerships and developer relations.
"Many Filipinos associate the word `hacking' with destructive behavior. Local tech events like AngeIHack Manila
help to correct this impression and teach people the definition of `hacker' used in innovation centers like Silicon
Valley. Hackers build, create, innovate, and are the focal points of tech ecosystems," he added.
"What sets AngeIHack Manila apart from other hackathons is that the winner's big idea will be developed into a
startup business, and will be introduced to Silicon Valley. We will help the team with the best'big idea' break
into the big leagues," said IdeaSpace president Earl Valencia.
"AngeIHack Manila will provide a very rare opportunity for a developer-centric startup to make it big in Silicon Valley. We're all excited at Smart DevNet and IdeaSpace to find out who will represent Filipino developers and
start-uppers in San Francisco this coming September," said Smart developer evangelist Paul Pajo.
Leaders in the startup, developer, and venture capital communities all banded together to support this big tech
event. Judges include Winston Damarillo (founder of Exist and Morphlabs), RaphWunsch (founder of
Metrodeal.com), Alvin Gendrano (Microsoft), Frederic Levy (founder of (CashCashPinoy.com), Floyd Piedad
(Narra Ventures), Jay Yao (international graphic designer), Beryl Li (SeedAsia), AdrichScheuders
(Freelancer.com), Ernie Imperial (Meralco), and Ann Jacobe (founder of Shoephoric.com).
Other startup founders, angel investors, and venture capitalists will also be there to mentor and participate in
the first round of judging.
AngeIHack Manila is part of a global hackathon expected to bring iri more than 10,000 developers in 32 cities in
Asia Pacific, North America, South America, and Europe. Previous winners of the global challenge have gone on
to attend incubators like Y-Combinator, AngeIPad, Mass Challenge, TechStars, and 500 Startups.
Main sponsors include 1337 Ventures, Amazon Web Services, Asia Pacific Ventures, BIackBerry, Chikka,
Freelancer.ph, Google, Voyager, Microsoft, Mozilla.ph, San Miguel Flavored Beer, and Smart LTE:
Other partners of the local leg include BigTimeShow.com, Developers Connect Philippines, e27.co, Infinitely,
Interaksyon.com, Orange and Bronze, Shoephoric.com, and Source Pad.
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