Giving them the wider markets outside the country.
Last May 29, inking of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalized a cross-border partnership to support the growth of startups and innovation ecosystems in Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines.
In line with that, TechShake and Brunei Innovation Lab (BIL) have officially entered into a partnership with the Philippine Department of Science and Technology-Technology Application and Promotions Institute (DOST-TAPI).
“While TechShake is the direct signatory of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Brunei Innovation Lab, DOST-TAPI acts as TechShake’s strategic partner,” said Pierre Sonia Dela Corte, supervising science research specialist of the DOST-TAPI’s Investments and Business Operations Division.
“DOST-TAPI envisions this milestone as a vehicle to expand the reach of Filipino innovators beyond local markets and to position the Philippines as an active contributor to the ASEAN startup and digital innovation landscape.”
Under the partnership, BIL and TechShake will collaborate on publicity and joint promotion, sharing of local market and investment insights, and project-based initiatives including curated innovation tours, market-entry programs, and bilateral knowledge-sharing platforms, among others.
“The Philippines has always been more than a market — it is a gateway into ASEAN. By formalizing our partnership with Brunei Innovation Lab, we are giving Bruneian founders structured access to that gateway and giving Philippine startups a new corridor into Brunei and the BIMP-EAGA region,” said Kotaro Adachi, chief executive officer and co-founder of TechShake.
“This MOU turns months of dialogue into committed, two-way infrastructure for cross-border innovation.”
TechShake was founded in 2016 and is one of Southeast Asia’s most active accelerators and startup ecosystem builders.
With operations in the Philippines and in Japan, the company’s ‘Bridge to ASEAN’ vision has connected founders, corporations, and investors across Japan and Southeast Asia for nearly a decade.
On the other hand, Brunei Innovation Lab is a core national platform dedicated to building an innovation ecosystem and develops digital champions and technopreneurs to support Brunei Darussalam’s sustainable economy.
With TechShake onboard as a strategic partner of DOST-TAPI, Dela Corte said this collaboration will serve as a foundational step for future regional capacity-building and acceleration initiatives that will offer entry points into regional networks and scalability pathways.
As of May of this year, there are over 14,759 startups across the country, according to Tracxn.
Meanwhile, DOST-TAPI has supported numerous startups and Filipino innovators through its various technology commercialization and innovation support programs.
The list includes the Intellectual Property Rights Assistance Program (IPRAP), Expanded IPRAP (E-IPRAP), Technology Innovation for Commercialization (TECHNiCOM) Program, Grants and Assistance to Leverage Innovations for National Growth (GALING) Program, Expanded Venture Financing Program (eVFP), and the Innovation and Technology (i-TECH) Lending Program.
Beyond local support, DOST-TAPI also actively facilitates international market access and commercialization opportunities for startups and innovators through participation in global innovation and technology events, business matching activities, startup showcases, and international exhibitions across various countries.
These enable Filipino startups to establish global linkages, explore investment and partnership opportunities, validate technologies in international markets, and accelerate the commercialization of homegrown innovations on a global scale.