Jay Fajardo is the Program Director of LAUNCHGARAGE, a start-up accelerator based in Manila, Philippines. He is the founder and CEO of Ruby development shop PROUDCLOUD, and co-founder and CTO of HealthTech startup MEDIFI. Holding roles as director, advisor, and mentor in various tech start-ups, Jay Fajardo is considered to be one of the thought leaders of the Philippines’ tech start-up scene. He was invited to participate in the Connective Cities workshop in Berlin due to his pioneering undertakings in an unexperienced Asian urban landscape.

Q. Tell us about the beginnings of LAUNCHGARAGE? 

A. In 2008 I first initiated the so called Roofcamp, an innovation hub to bring young people together and give innovation and entrepreneurship in Manila a push. Offering a venue for teaching and learning, discussions and enable open collaboration was the goal. These unstructured gatherings lead to the first two Start-up Weekends in Manila and eventually, the foundation of start-up accelerator LAUNCHGARAGE in 2012. We fund and mentor selected early stage start-ups. 

Q. Please share your expectations and motivations to join this event? 

A. I have always have been interested in trying to learn from other start-up ecosystems around the world and I think this is a perfect venue to learn from peers, best practices, do study tours and share my own experiences. Also the networking part matters as it is crucial to have international contacts, thus access to global wisdom and expertise with a global flavor.

Q. After the first day of the workshop what have you learned so far?

A. From the first session day, I learned that a lot of the problems that we experience in Manila seems to be common with all the other ecosystems in the rest of the world. Not only including the practices presented from Thailand and Myanmar but also from the Global North, for instance the city of Dresden.

Q. What distinguishes this dialogue event in your eyes?

A. The initiative of this dialogue event is very unique. Cities in person of an expert shall connect with another and hopefully support each other in the future. It is the first step in the development of a network of emerging urban start-up hubs and smart cities around the world that share resources, knowledge, experiences and also exchange experts to learn from each other. These days in Berlin mark the starting point.

Q. What is the value add of such a global network of urban start-up hubs?

A. Every single ecosystem varies from each other because of market characteristics, cultural distinctions or resources available. Some cities have strength in engineering and others may have an exceptional market development. This is what makes it important for an ecosystem like mine in Manila to learn from the others. Despite regional differences, solution-oriented approaches can be modified and applied. Furthermore, in case we want to expand to the global market we are aware of what is available to us and what challenges may exist in each ecosystem or region.

Q. What are topics determined during the workshop to further work on? 

A. A lot of people are eager to find out about the processes of different hubs and regions. You have to keep in mind that the topic we deal with is a very new thing for everybody. Not just in South East Asia but in Europe as well. Everyone is always learning and experiencing at this point. Best practices, individual business models, strategies for sustainability, assessing start-ups and ideas, the generation of revenue - all those are issues that we try to frame at this workshop and what would be very important take-aways from this event.