Four prominent Filipinos have been named Master Innovators in the second annual Mansmith Innovation Awards: Jean Henri Lhuillier, Ronald Mascariñas, Martha Sazon and Dennis Anthony Uy (of Pampanga).
Lhuillier is CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier Group of Companies, which he has converted into a retail powerhouse doing not just pawn-broking, but micro insurance, bills payment, money remittance, loans, collections and e-loading, among many other micro financial services, exploiting the "sachet" concept in their pawnshop chain with over 2,500 branches.
Mascariñas is president and CEO of Bounty Agro. Over a decade ago, poultry integrator Bounty Group established over 2,000 retail outlets of Chooks-to-Go, Uling Roasters, and more recently, Hei Hei chicken burger take-out stores, outnumbering and outselling all other major takeout cooked chicken chain combined. It has also promoted nationalism through sports.
Sazon is president and CEO of GCash, the pioneer and biggest in mobile wallet and payment in the Philippines and the country's first operating unicorn. Its users have more than doubled in the last two years to over 50 million users by the end of 2021. GCash has expanded its fintech platform to include savings, loans, insurance and investment.
Uy is chair and CEO of Converge ICT, the first to introduce local end-to-end fiber internet, launching a new tech category of high-speed broadband to millions of underserved customers, capturing a dominant market share of fiber internet despite being a late entrant in the industry.
Innovators to watch
Four up-and-coming enterprise innovators were also selected: David John Aguilar, EJ Arboleda, Paco Magsaysay and Steve Sy.
Aguilar launched business reality TV show "The Final Pitch," where startup founders pitch for mentorship and back-end support, providing a platform for both entrepreneurship education and business investment.
Arboleda founded Taxumo, the country's first end-to-end online tax assistance platform for self-employed individuals and small business owners to easily compute, file and pay taxes. He created Taxumo after seeing how Ginger, his entrepreneur wife, stressed monthly about tax filing, and paid hefty penalties to the Bureau of Internal Revenue when her previous accountant forgot to file her quarterly taxes and bookkeeping requirements.
Magsaysay launched Carmen's Best ice cream, the first premium Filipino ice cream brand, using local milk and specialized ingredients and pasteurization processes in ice cream production, turning the problem of proper storage of fresh milk into new product opportunity.
Sy is founder and CEO of Great Deals E-Commerce, the pioneer and largest end-to-end e-commerce solution provider for branded products in the Philippines. He saw the e-commerce opportunity after selling thousands of power banks online in one day and e-distributing virgin coconut oil.
These eight Filipino innovators will receive the 3D printed Mansmith innovation sculpture trophy, specially designed by world-renowned Sadjid Imao on April 26 and 27.
The awarding and the summit are officially endorsed by the Department of Trade and Industry and Go Negosyo. Registration is free for the first 1,000 participants via www.continuum-edu.com.
Another opportunity awaits as the second Mansmith Innovation Challenge is here, with P250,000 in cash prizes at stake for teams that can recommend innovative solutions to real world challenges. Details are available at www.mansmithinnovation.com. INQ
Josiah Go is chair and chief innovation strategist of Mansmith and Fielders Inc. Visit www.mansmith.net for eight innovation courses that can help your company grow.