IN a world where borders no longer pose a limit and business growth is largely determined by online presence, Infobip's Startup Tribe program wants to be the ideal partner that could support the digitalization journey for startups. Infobip is a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale.The Asia and the Pacific (APAC), including the Philippines, was selected as the next focus region of the Infobip Startup Tribe. In an online conversation with The Manila Times, Nikola Pavesic, director of Startups, Infobip, explains why technology is opening tremendous opportunities for Filipinos to pursue their innovative ideas and how the Infobip Startup Tribe program could help kickstart their journey to success.The Manila Times (TMT): Please provide a brief introduction to the Infobip Startup Tribe program.Nicola Pavesic (NPv): Infobip Startup Tribe is a bespoke program aimed at finding and bringing together the world's most innovative startups to help fast-track their growth and development by empowering them with the right communication solutions and global resources. We launched the Startup program globally six months ago and most recently in APAC, where we have since garnered interest from startups all around the world. In addition, we have also confirmed collaborations with the world's leading accelerators like Y Combinator, 500 Startups, Index Ventures and many other leading venture capital funds.TMT: How are you reaching out to prospective participants of the program? Is the focus on startups about getting started or those with at least some minimum level of development?NPv: The criteria for startups to be accepted into Infobip's Startup Tribe is to demonstrate high growth potential, have no more than 100 employees, and/or basically have raised no more than $5 million in funding. As for the level requirement to apply for the program, ideally, the startups would have customers already in order to use Infobip's products and services the best way possible and make the most out of the Startup Tribe Program. We are by nature a B2B provider and our strengths are in enabling partners, clients, and now startups with strong communication solutions and tools.TMT: What constitutes your "Advanced Customer Communication Capabilities?" Can you please briefly discuss how this type of support can make a difference for startups?NPv: Our programmable communications platform delivers a suite of tools for advanced customer engagement and support, and we make this available across the widest range of communication channels possible so that businesses can seamlessly interact with their customers. Our infrastructure was developed to adapt to the constantly changing market and communication trends at speeds and levels of precision and security demanded by today's businesses, including startups. Through the Startup Tribe program, you just plug in to Infobip, connect to our API, activate what is needed for your business communications, and you are ready to go.TMT: Are there any significant characteristics that make the Philippines stand out or no different, for that matter, from other APAC economies in terms of nurturing startups?NPv: The Philippines is a very interesting market and the startup ecosystem there has been growing at a good pace over the last few years. It has become a community of innovative minds, especially when it comes to rates of digitalization. I am talking about new solutions for everyday life, including finance and fintech solutions and we want to make these efforts become truly global. Also, there are many exciting stories and innovations coming out of the Philippines as well. Digitalization is going to bring a completely new level of interaction with the end customer, and that applies virtually to any industry. This is a great opportunity for us to support startups in the Philippines.TMT: Since the initial argument for Infobip is "a world without borders where growth is determined by online presence," would our slow internet access pose a major challenge for innovative Filipino enterprises to be part of your program?NPv: Not at all. Every country has its challenges, the upsides and downsides. It is very important for the Philippines to leverage on its strengths, which is being a huge market with an increasing digitalization rate and having the opportunity to disrupt many industries that will literally help and include millions of people in all kinds of verticals. When it comes to slow internet connectivity, the infrastructure is changing quickly and with the onset of 5G, this will only get faster.We want to make a real impact and support the startup ecosystem globally. Over 200 startups have applied to the Infobip Startup program, which include startups from the Philippines and its neighboring countries, across Asia.
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