The Next Negosyante Award: Recognizing Filipino Innovation

The general business landscape in the Philippines is filled with countless startups as well as young and innovative companies who present a lot of potential in revolutionizing their respective industries. However, it is not often that these companies are given the opportunity to showcase the ingenuity that they bring to the table.

As we continue to face multiple crises at the same time — particularly the worsening climate crisis and the prolonged global pandemic — startups and young companies can provide a fresh perspective on how to effectively tackle these challenges. 

The Next Negosyante Award is an annual award provided by Negosyante News, which recognizes the promise of these up-and-coming businesses as they continue to break boundaries and make significant waves in their respective fields.

Negosyante News is a digital publication launched in June 2020 under Oracle Media Group. The newsroom’s aim is to deliver straight business news with integrity to Filipinos, especially as the business sector continues to thrive. Aside from covering the usual industries of the public and private sectors, Negosyante News hopes to be at the country’s forefront of providing comprehensive developments on emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the metaverse. 

Negosyante News goes by putting Filipino businesses first, as they understand the need to innovate the way business news is distributed, providing daily information on both local and international happenings. It also conveys opinionated editorials on occasion, which promote healthy discourse on certain intriguing topics that are substantially relevant at a certain point in time.

This year’s Next Negosyante Awards were handed out earlier this month on December 3, and the recipients are comprised of the following:

• Careless Music, received by President and founder James Reid, is an independent record label that aims to deepen and shape the music scene by nurturing talent outside the usual scope of the industry

• BlockchainSpace, received by general manager Jen Bilango, is empowering the next generation of asset managers in the Metaverse by developing tools and providing financing solutions that allow play-to-earn guilds to successfully scale their businesses

• CUBO Modular, received by COO and co-founder Zahra Zanjani, is a social enterprise geared at providing sustainable, affordable, and dignified housing for every Filipino using engineered bamboo

• Verne Energy Solutions, received by CEO John Altomonte, is a young yet innovative company of problem-solvers that plays a major role in the country’s energy transition

In addition to the award, the companies also received a digital NFT trophy — the first of its kind for an annual award – created by the team at Negosyante News and minted on OpenSea through the ETH blockchain. The design of the digital trophy is heavily influenced by the feature film The Matrix, which reflects the deepening digitalization of society. 

Visit https://negosyante.org and follow Negosyante News on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about The Next Negosyante Awards and the awardees.