Select Filipino entrepreneurs vying for a chance to realize their business dreams came to a head last week at the Pinoy Dream Negosyo event in Makati City.
The event rounds off the series of online challenges and activities for Raket Mo ‘To and Da Best of Food PH. Top three participating entrepreneurs from the Raket PH and FoodPH Viber channels were the opportunity to pitch their business ideas and receive a business grant from Viber and its partners Inquirer Group of Companies and GrabExpress.
In selecting the GRAND BESTie of DA BEST OF FOOD PH, Viber sought the help of an esteemed panel of judges, including writer and editor Ruth Navarra-Mayo, restaurateur and celebrity chef Gerick Manalo, and Rakuten Viber’s Business Development Manager Veronica Feleo.
For Raket Mo ‘To of Raket PH, the panel of judges were: Joseph Arnold De Guzman, Go Negosyo mentor and Chairman and CEO of First Food Link Distributors, Inc.; Jennivev “Nene” Tamayo-Plamio, a celebrity mompreneur and one of the pioneer members of the GrabExpress Madiskarteng Boss Club, and; Chris Aguilar, APAC Marketing Director for Rakuten Viber.
In the end, two budding Filipino entrepreneurs became one step closer to fulfilling their entrepreneurial dreams as they each received a business grant from Viber and its partners. The judges chose Mon Cabsag of The Bistro Box as the GRAND BESTie of FOODPH and Richmond Argosino of Ken Goods and Apparel for Raket Mo ‘To of RaketPH.
For his final challenge, Mon Cabsag created his version of a popular regional food called nilupak, a traditional Filipino delicacy. In his entry, he prepared the cassava with nata de coco, mung beans, sugar, condensed milk, ube, ultimately wowing the judges with anilupak that resembles the flavors of halo-halo, a Filipino favorite dessert.
The winners were chosen under the supervision of DTI representative Edsel John Lingon.
Cabsag, during the media QnA segment of the event, said that he will use the prizes to upgrade his business equipment to better serve his customers. “It was a memorable and exhilarating experience for me. I met and interacted with a lot of entrepreneurs like me and gained more perspective about running a business,” he added.
“Pinoy Dream Negosyo didn’t happen overnight. It is a by product of the team’s hard work to meet and answer the needs of the Filipinos back in 2020,” said Lana Macapagal, APAC PR Lead for Rakuten Viber. “When there was a surge in users and communities actively using Viber, we asked ourselves how we could help them further. That led us to our goal, which is to champion Filipino MSMEs.”
Pinoy Dream Negosyo is in line with Rakuten Viber’s mission to educate, enable, and empower Filipino MSMEs by giving them a platform to share their entrepreneurial journey and by providing business owners with the know-how and tools to help implement their business plans, and scale their business operations.
