The Emerald Hub at Phnom Penh International University hosted the Techstars Startup Weekend Phnom Penh, their second startup meeting with the aim of brainstorming and creating ideas to help students excel in education in Cambodia.
Techstars Startup Weekends are 54-hour events designed to provide experiential education for budding entrepreneurs. Featuring anything from groups of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts and marketing gurus, attendees pitch ideas for new startup companies, form teams around those ideas and work to develop a working prototype, demo or presentation by the end of the weekend. Startup Weekend now has a global presence, having reached more than 135 countries and involving more than 210,000 entrepreneurs.
Participants in the Phnom Penh chapter were able to call on professional mentors such as Monirath Siv, the CEO and co-founder of Teach for Cambodia; Sophaline Mao, Partner Programmes (Asia Pacific) of Salesforce; Kagnarith Chea, co-founder of Edemy; and Vitin Seng, Campus Director of H&K International School.
The event kicked off last Friday with short pitches of ideas upon which teams were created based on suitable and feasible ideas. It culminated in creating prototypes for potential clients.
Backed by telecom giant Smart Axiata, the weekend aimed to help young Cambodians gain the necessary skills, expertise and mentorship which all too many young startups in Cambodia struggle to attract.
This article was originally published in the Khmer Times.
