Displaying their prowess in information and communications technology application, team Artvengers of MSU-Gensan advanced to the final round of the 8th Philippine Startup Challenge (PSC) after penetrating into the top 10 out of 629 startups from 158 different colleges and universities across the nation during the semifinals last November 6.
A group of selected fourth-year students from College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, namely Fritz Evar Quije, Niña Rose Sebial and Zaki Sarmiento, headed by their coach, Dr. Lumer Jude Doce, made a successful startup which drove them to the national stage this coming December 6 at Cebu City.
In an interview, Quije emphasized their motivating force was to perform well in their startup essentials.
"We were tasked by our professor, Sir Jypzie Catedrilla, to create a startup idea and submitting it to the Regional Philippine Startup Challenge was also part of the requirement. We won the regional level and made it to the semi-finals. We were really surprised by how far it went," Quije said.
"Thanks to our mentor, Sir Lumer Jude Doce, who played a huge role in helping us improve our idea. His guidance was key in making our concept better and more competitive. The competition was really tough, and seeing how good other universities' ideas were made us work even harder. We were now determined to prove ourselves and represent our university well in the Finals Round of the 8th Philippine Startup Challenge."
According to Sebial, it was a silent battle for them and after submitting, they hardly talked about it.
"We gave each other a smile indicating relief as if it was gonna be the last time we would be feeling the pressure. We barely even talked about it after. It's like a forbidden topic that whenever someone opens it, another shuts it down.Truth be told, we didn't think we would make it in the top 10. Pessimist as it may sound, we weren't satisfied with our output," she said.
"The only thing keeping us from forgetting the competition was the motivation our mentor gave us, quote unquote, "Passha ang semis. Like dauga. U might" Nagpalibre man gud me. I think that was what we silently manifested the most. Basta nasurprise jud me and fight fight fight na me."
In a statement given by Sarmiento, they were driven by a shared passion for excelling in their subject and enjoying the overall experience on the path to where they are now.
"We underwent extensive preparation, including brainstorming ideas, seeking advice from our mentor, and researching the problem we aimed to tackle. We shot videos and photographs to enhance our pitch," she added.
"Regular meetings and Q&A sessions (face-to-face and online) with our mentor, along with a practice session with ICEBOX, kept us on track. Despite facing sleepless nights, we dedicated our intramural days and academic break to do more research."
The aforementioned event was led by ICT Industry Development Bureau.
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