MANILA, Philippines - The confidence in the potential of the Philippine startup scene has intrigued Startup Labs, a global co-investment program for tech startups that focuses on emerging markets, into going to the Philippines this February.

FOR EMERGING MARKETS. Startup Labs hopes to tap the Philippines as a market for startups.

Startup Labs is planning to tap the Philippines as an emerging market to discover the most promising startups. It currently has registrations open for all investor groups and business incubators, with the deadline for registrations on January 20.

Those who join Startup Labs have access to influencers. They also get the opportunity to learn about growth markets, challenges, and opportunities. Startup Labs' goal is to help early stage startups succeed and accelerate their growth with capital and support from influencers.

“I am very excited to be bringing Startup Labs to Philippines," says Tugce Ergul, Startup Labs' Director. "I find Philippines to be a very exciting market with a lot of potential especially once the entire ecosystem and investors are aligned.

Ergul adds, "We will be mixing the local investors’ expertise with a global Silicon Valley and the Philippine context. The ecosystem is very young and there’s a lot of market fragmentation but this only makes things more exciting for us.

Ergul and the Startup Labs team intends to visit over 25 cities on four continents and gather at least 100 local investors together to invest in over 125 startups around the world.

The pitching sessions are scheduled for the first week of February. Those who are interested in this opportunity are urged to apply via the Startup Labs website. - Rappler.com