The Philippine Trade and Investment Center in Singapore is working closely with four Filipinos from Cebu to officially introduce Geopik, an app that can revolutionize the postal system in the Philippines.
Singapore-based Francisco Liwa, Ivan Lacuesta, Rodessa Padrigano and John Ryan Loyloy utilize the digital address system using geohashing and geolocation technologies similar to that used by apps such as Waze or Google Maps.
Geopik converts long addresses or the absence of house numbers which is common in the Philippines, into more exact, customizable and easy-to-remember single codes. The app reduces the hassle brought by additional information to the actual address such as “house with blue gate, in front of a mango tree” by simply converting addresses to simple digital codes.
Seeing the inefficiency in the Philippines’ postal coding,Geopik set out to offer a solution to e-commerce, logistics and other location-dependent businesses.
“It’s such a unique experience to help build something and be part of its growth from the very beginning. This is our way of taking charge of our future and making an impact back home in the process,” said GeoPik co-founder John Loyloy.
Aligned with the Philippine government’s thrust to develop an innovative entrepreneurial culture, the Trade Department supports startups and helps strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the country through various initiatives such engaging startup entrepreneurs.
The agency launched QBO Innovation Hub situated at the DTI International Building, Makati City in 2016. It is the first public-private innovation hub in the Philippines that aims to provide support services to startup and innovation entrepreneurs.
DTI teamed up with incubator and accelerator Ideaspace Foundation, the Department of Science and Technology and JP Morgan.
In Singapore, parallel initiatives are being done by PTIC led by commercial counsellor Glenn Peñaranda, who engages with the Filipino community by speaking at investment seminars and online channels on entrepreneurship with the goal of providing more job opportunities for Filipinos.
“Startups play a pivotal role in driving innovation and economic growth hence we are happy to help GeoPik reach out to decision-makers and to potential users. We also look forward to work with more Filipino startups here in Singapore and the region and help them scale up,” said Peñaranda.