In December 2020, The Department of Science and Technology’s Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) called for proposals for their fund program with a theme, “Jumpstarting the Economy in the New Normal”.
The program aims to provide funding for developing early-stage technologies that are expected to create an impact in Philippine society.
DOST PCIEERD Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit explains that the department is on a constant lookout for new talents that can bring transformative products and services for the development of the country.
54 startups sent in their proposals—introducing products that seek to harness innovative technology in the following priority areas: supply chain and logistics management, sustainable industries, learning/education, content and development, work from home productivity, and public service digital tools.
On June 17, after the council’s deliberations, InsightSCS was unveiled as one of the 14 recipients of DOST’s P43 million research and development (R&D) fund. Among these startups, our firm, under the supply chain and logistics management category, became part of the 9 successful grantees from Luzon for the Startup Grant Fund Program’s first cycle.
As the department extends funding to start-up firms, it hopes that this financial assistance can help the economy of the Philippines to bounce back by deploying cross-cutting technologies on important key sectors.
Supply chain and logistics management, as defined by the program, is a technology that reduces dependency on physical labor across different channels including transportation, logistics and warehousing. It provides a platform to match relevant stakeholders online and where they can arrange delivery of goods from source to point of use.
As a provider of this type of technology, our proposal presented the integration of cold chain solutions in DeliverE 2.0. It showed how an end-to-end agri-supply chain technology can significantly shorten and automate the supply chain by integrating vital stakeholders into a single platform, which will enhance the entire experience of MSMEs and agricultural stakeholders.
It highlighted the increase of efficiency of the supply chain by 63% and the reduction of the supply chain layers from an average 8 to only 4 touchpoints.
As we receive additional investment on our R&D, this will enable our firm to create new product lines that can support our agricultural digital platform and marketplace, and further streamline the processes between each stakeholder.
This DOST PCIEERD grant will not only add value to our start-up’s R&D operations, but also the overall growth of the country as we all partake in a path towards building a more sustainable and digital-driven economy.