What a ruckus at Raintree Cambodia yesterday with all 21 startups impressing our judging panel one way or another. After much deliberation, Goama clinches the Judge’s Choice award.
Of course, we’ve not forgotten about our E27 and Echelon community as well as our friends from across the region who have been rallying behind our cause.
Which is why, with much enthusiasm, SPARE was named the Fan Favourite at Echelon TOP100 Cambodia Qualifiers Roadshow.
This time around, we have three special frontrunner awards for other promising startups who came in a close third, fourth, and fifth place. They are Demine Robotics, CamboTicket, and BookMeBus.
Kudos to all the startups for such a great showing!
Winner’s Profiles and Prizes
Goama is a gaming entity that adopts the subscription model; allowing users to have frictionless access to casual game playing without the annoyance and hassle of in-game advertisements, micro-payment purchases, or download fees.
According to the judges, Goama’s business model appeals to the exuberant youth gaming community that vastly improves the user experience whilst adopting the tried and tested subscription model.
Here are some of the “spoils of war” they receive:
- Exhibition booth at Echelon Asia Summit 2018
- 6 months hot desk pass (Usable at any WeWork space in the SEA)
- Additional digits in the bank account – S$500 (US$380)
As the crowd cheers for the Judges Choice award winner, you could almost hear another name popping out from amongst the crowd for SPARE.
The Fan Favourite winner is a digital platform aiming to solve the short-term space rental problem in Cambodia. Users would be able to search, book, review and host short-term venues including meeting rooms, event space, seminar space, indoor and outdoor spaces. This would be cost-effective for end-users and hosts alike.
Morning Panel Recap
The Cambodia TOP100 Qualifier Roadshow kicked-off with an insightful welcome address by H.E. Dr. Kan Channmeta from MPTC and Thomas Hundt, CEO of Smart Axiata. They had both echoed the significant growth of the startup ecosystem in Cambodia.
Thomas Hundt had mentioned that the country need “to tell the region, the world, that Cambodia has something to show” with their unwavering support for the initiative through their innovation funds, Smart Start entrepreneur program and hosting hackathon events in the country.
H.E. Dr. Kan Channmeta acknowledges that very same growth with the ecosystem being recognised across the ASEAN region. However, he urged the audiences not to rest on their laurels as the success so far is the result of a “collaborative effort between external partners, academia, research institutes, development partners, and more to build an ecosystem for promoting digital content and solution.”
The three different panels that followed after spoke about lessons from the regional ecosystem on funding for Cambodia, women in technology, and embracing innovation and bringing Cambodia forward.
Watch the #catchup Facebook Live broadcast below.
Everyone’s a Winner
“Wait, what about the rest?” you might ask.
To us, everyone who pitched today at the qualifiers is a winner! With potential investors, business partners and customers making up the audience, someone could have taken notice! Expect that phone call soon guys!
Startups pitching today will also receive a chance to attend Echelon Asia Summit 2018 as the top 100 startups after vetting their scores against all the startups pitching in 20+ countries during the Echelon TOP100 Qualifiers.