First Cambodia Tech Summit draws thousands of tech enthusiasts

Joonaak Delivery wins Seedstars’ Best Startup Cambodia award, stands to win up to 1 million USD in funding during pitches at Seedstars’ Asia and Global Summits.

Phnom Penh, 21st October 2018: The Cambodia Tech Summit wrapped up on Sunday after a busy weekend that showcased international speakers, promising local startups and highlighted opportunities for Cambodia’s blossoming technology ecosystem.

Organized by Smart Axiata and the National Institute of Posts, Telecoms and ICT (NIPTICT), with the backing of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication (MPTC) and the Capacity Building and R&D Fund (CBRDF), the Cambodia Tech Summit is the first of its kind in Cambodia.

Since Friday, numerous initiatives powered by Smart were carried out in Phnom Penh:

• Seedstars World, the largest startup competition for emerging markets which includes a two-day Bootcamp with mentorship opportunities from high-profile local as well as international mentors;
• Startup/Angels networking talk series, featuring local and international startup ecosystem players, including those mentors from the Seedstars Bootcamp;
• BarCamp, the country’s largest tech, entrepreneurship and startup awareness program;
• Facebook Developer Circle, a collaborative developer community that shares the latest technologies and features local experts;
• ‘Startup Kingdom’, presentation of highlights of the upcoming Cambodia Startup Report;
• Smart TechTalk, an annual forum featuring international keynotes and panel sessions.

“Smart Axiata has been a driving force behind the tech sector development here in Cambodia. The energy and passion seen during the load of events during this weekend, the BarCamp, the Tech Summit as such, the Seedstars competition… was just amazing and highly encouraging. It endorsed that the road we are travelling on is very much right. We at Smart will set forth that journey by putting all our weight behind further grooming, developing and boosting the local startup and tech ecosystem,” said Thomas Hundt, CEO of Smart Axiata.

International keynote speakers from Google, Facebook, Leaderonomics, Huawei, Transcosmos and Digital Ventures captivated the crowd on Sunday morning, while in the afternoon, a power-packed panel session, featuring the US Ambassador to Cambodia, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Google, Seedstars and Smart Axiata discussed topics centered around ‘Harnessing the Power of Digital Innovation for Cambodia’.

Besides a sneak preview of the upcoming Cambodia Startup Report by Raintree and Mekong Strategic Partners, 10 Cambodian startups took stage as part of the Seedstars 3-day event to pitch their businesses to a jury made up of local and international heavyweights – Feiruz Ikhwan, CFO of Smart Axiata; Pahrada Sapprasert, Director of 500 Tuk Tuks; Bora Kem, Partner of Mekong Strategic Partners; Gabriela Fernandez, Associate for Asia at Seedstars; Zoe Ng, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Raintree; and Dr. Seng Sopheap, President of NIPTICT.

Joonaak Delivery, a last-mile delivery service platform, won the Seedstars’ Cambodia Best Startup award. As champion, the company will be invited to participate at the Seedstars Asia Summit 2018, happening in Bangkok for the second time, and at Seedstars Global Summit in Switzerland, where they will have the chance to win up to 1 million USD in equity investments and other prizes.

“We have seen many startup and technology events in Cambodia over the last few years but this Tech Summit is a new milestone for all of us as we develop further towards realizing a digital Cambodia. I could not be prouder of everyone who has worked hard together to pull this off. I am very confident that even though Cambodia’s tech sector is not as developed as other markets, the talent, passion and capability is there for all to see!” said Dr. Seng Sopheap, President of NIPTICT.

At the event on Sunday, Smart Axiata also launched its Application Program Interface (API) platform, called ‘Ideamart powered by Smart’, which is intended to allow faster engagement and partnerships in the digital space. This platform will be an enabler to the fast-growing developer and content provider network to monetize their efforts via shared APIs with Smart.

For more information on such events and Ideamart, follow Smart’s “Smart for Cambodia” Facebook page at www.facebook.com/smartforcambodia or visit www.smart.com.kh.