Davao’s startup ecosystem, once a quiet player in the country’s innovation scene, has surged to become one of the Philippines’ fastest-growing hubs. Join the momentum at Davao Startup Week 2025, from September 24 to 27, and see firsthand how founders are building homegrown ideas that grow from grassroots to global markets.
The week opens with the first GovTech Mindanao Summit on September 24 at The Pinnacle Hotel. Nearly 200 mayors and governors from 27 provinces will join sessions on digital governance, public health, smart city tools, and disaster resilience.
GovTech Mindanao co-chair Maryl Malabad said at Wednesday’s Habi at Kape forum that the summit will connect startups with local government leaders through a business-to-government (B2G) model, where startups offer solutions directly to government units. She said LGUs should walk away ready to pilot at least eight startup solutions, underscoring the need to replace manual processes and outdated systems that slow down services across Mindanao.
She said the initiative aims to link startups with local governments across Mindanao, which face manual processes, outdated systems, and limited resources that slow public service delivery.
The scale of Davao Startup Week mirrors the city’s steady climb in global startup rankings. In 2023, Davao entered the Global Startup Ecosystem Index for the first time, ranking fourth nationwide and first in Mindanao. A year later, it posted the country’s biggest single-year jump with a 208-point rise, an achievement the Department of Science and Technology, PCIEERD, described as “phenomenal.”
By 2025, the StartupBlink Global Report ranked Davao as the third-strongest startup ecosystem in the Philippines. The city posted the country’s fastest growth rate at 97 percent and jumped 163 spots globally to 580th out of more than 1,000 cities.
A strong support network has fueled this rise. Ideas Davao, launched in 2021, has mentored more than 150 startups through incubation and training, and in 2024 received Tesda’s Kabalikat Award for advancing grassroots innovation. Local universities, Ateneo de Davao, UP Mindanao, and the University of Mindanao, continue to run technology business incubators, while the launch of the Davao Angel Investors Network in 2024 opened new funding channels for early-stage ventures.
Organizers expect hundreds of participants from across Mindanao this year, including founders, students, investors, and policymakers. Unlike past editions that focused mainly on Davao City, the 2025 program will span the wider region, showing that Mindanao’s innovation story is no longer tied to a single hub but is growing into a regional movement.
Since earning global recognition in 2023, Davao has quickly climbed the ranks, proving that Philippine innovation is not confined to Metro Manila. As Startup Week 2025 unfolds, the city positions itself as both a testbed for new ideas and a gateway for investors looking beyond the capital. DEF